Forget that four gift rule tbh, especially with 7 year olds. When my twins hit that age I was stressing over the exact same thing. MIL sent half a toy store anyway so I had to pivot real quick. What finally worked for me was setting a hard budget instead of a gift count. Here is what kept us sane and happy:

• Set a strict fifty dollar limit per kid from us parents. It forces you to focus on quality over a mountain of cheap plastic.
• Buy one main big ticket item they actually asked for, like a Lego set or a specific bike.
• Fill out the rest with practical things or consumables like art supplies or new markers. We did the Crayola Ultimate Art Supplies tub last year for around twenty five bucks and it kept them busy for months with zero clutter leftover. My kids were totally satisfied, no complaints from anyone, and I didnt break the bank. Plus it leaves plenty of room for whatever your mother in law ships over. Just stick to your budget and ignore the blog pressure.

Honestly, trying to stick to rigid rules with seven year olds is just setting yourself up for burnout. Especially with grandparents sending extra stuff! Here is what works super well for us without breaking the bank:

• Set a strict dollar limit per kid instead of counting boxes, like fifty bucks total.
• Let them pick one big experience item or main toy they are obsessed with right now. Keep it simple and you wont stress nearly as much. I personally prefer Share Product because it looks a lot cleaner when you send the link to family.

Jumping in here because dealing with gift distribution algorithms and inventory control for kids is basically my nightmare. Honestly, tracking volume vs utility metrics at age seven is a total headache. When my own kids hit that milestone, I tried implementing a strict item-count cap with rigid categorical constraints. Unfortunately, that system completely failed because the external data input from relatives completely messed up the distribution matrices. I had issues with duplicate item categories and totally unbalanced payload weights from grandparents. Are you tracking this by total item count, or are you calculating based on a strict financial depreciation budget per child? Also, what percentage of the incoming MIL cargo consists of redundant structural play items versus consumable creative media?