What to Do with Christmas Gift

Do you see your father in law frequently enough that the next time the older kids visit him, they can take it there and ask him to put it together with them so it's a nice grandpa/grandkids project?
OR
Can you wait until summer and put it together outside on a patio and/or garage or shed and store it in the garage or shed for a while- until they get tired of it and it's time to pack it up again?
OR
Could you re-gift it and give it to somebody else?
OR
Do your older boys have a friend's house they can go set it up at- of course, checking to make sure the friend's parents have space for it?

If grandpa lives nearby or even not so nearby why don't you keep it at his house and when your son spends time with him they have something to do together?

you could try taking it back to Wal-Mart...they will take anything back even without receipt as long as they sell it in their store. just an idea or save it for a special "big boys" night...let the older boys stay up later with dad and eat snacks and play with thier special big boy toy

J.,
One possible idea is if you do not mind parting with it, trying see if the school would like to have it. I know our fourth grade class has a table set up in the back of their classroom where they work together on large structures such as the roller coaster. They have the time to work on it when they are done studying or on cold days when they have to stay in. Just a thought.:)
J.

I agree with the other responses. Try Craigslist.org or Walmart/Target, or create a "safe spot" or special time when your older boys can play in peace without having to worry about your toddler. Is there a bedroom or office they can use? Or can you fence off the kitchen for a couple hours?

That is the exact thing that my father in law gave our 10 yr old son. we live in a very small house with 5 kids. we have a three year old who would destroy it given the chance and we have an 8 month old who would choke on the tiny bits. I don't know where they got it from and I really felt terrible about getting rid of it or exchanging it... mostly we were stuck to have to put it together because they said they wanted to see it put together. It sat for about a month until my husband had a day off from work and they put it together into the wee hours of the night. then they took it apart the next day after I took a couple of pictures and the 3 yr old snapped a few pieces off.
so now it sits in the case under his bed for the most part. when he does play with it he makes cubes and other interesting types of structures, but they are much smaller than putting the entire roller coaster together.
With presents like this I really have to wonder what my husband did that was so bad that I have to put up with these kinds of toys!
Uggh!

You're right, it is so impractical for most people to have this toy. It took my husband and son about 5 hours to put it together and then once it's done all you do is watch the toy cars get pulled up to the top and speed down, it got boring fast.

I hope you are able to get someone to take it off your hands.

maybe try selling it on craigs list. It's easier than ebay. Or donate it to a domestic violence shelter. they are always in need of toys for the children.

Craigslist or

Have the boys play with it at a table up high, no reason to punish them because a small child or baby lives in the home. I worked at a inhome daycare and we let the older kids have toys like that and many other small pieces we were just strict about it being at the table and had rules about it.