Last night Husband and I finished wrapping the Christmas gifts for the boys. It was pretty underwhelming and we were feeling a bit lame. The boys do not watch much t.v. and what they do watch does not have commercials so they don’t know what to ask for. We very rarely go to toy stores and the toy aisles at Target make me feel dirty – all that overly colorfully, plastic, light flashing, noise making crap they call toys. It disturbs me. I don’t want that stuff in my house.
So what are the boys getting this year?
- Every year they each get a special handpicked by me Christmas ornament. This year they are getting wooden, hinge jointed frog pirate ornaments from Cost Plus (they are very cute and it did not hurt that they were 50% off.)
- Books! They each are getting a big stack of books I picked up at Goodwill – they were $1 each and look new.
- Maze and hidden picture workbooks.
- Ink stamp and pad kit – Cody’s is ocean life and Carter’s is baby animals.
- The Car’s 2 movie. Yes, I know it came out this summer and every child has already seen it, but ours have not and they will be thrilled to get it.
- A Sesame Street Kinect game.
- A huge pack of wikki sticks.
- A Velcro ball dartboard game to put at the end of the hallway.
- A wooden car transporter truck complete with six cars.
The grand finale is left for Santa to bring and leave under the tree when he comes Christmas morning to fill our stockings. Cody did ask for only one this this year, an RC train on a track. He asked if he could get one after watching The Polar Express for the first time. Not to leave Carter out, Santa will be bringing him two battery operated trucks complete with a track.
Last night after placing the last present under the tree, Husband and I stepped back and looked at it. It did not look like a whole lot, especially since the two really big gifts will not show up until Christmas morning.
This morning when the boys woke up and saw the presents under the tree they were perfectly thrilled. They had no expectations of large piles of presents and after examining the wrapped goods they ran off down the hallway, each clutching an empty wrapping paper roll, laughing like crazy. Pure awesome.
Shoes On The Wrong Feet 
Awww so cute! And I won’t call you lame if you don’t call me a sell out! I’m just not that good! 🙂
Thanks and it’s a deal! I don’t think we are all that good, just uninformed about the cool toys out there. Last year the boys got sets of Trio snap blocks that have been a HUGE hit. I thought about getting them more but the darn things never stay on their play table and I don’t need any more of them scattered all over the house! 🙂 Merry Christmas!
Your tree looks beautiful. Your list of presents sound lovely. You have no need to worry. 🙂 I wish you and your family all the best for Christmas and the New Year. 🙂
Ah, thank you very much! I hope you have a wonderful Christmas too. 🙂
Thank you. Given circumstances of recent months I don’t think anyone had any expectations, so it worked out better than expected really. 🙂
There is a Sesame Street Kinect game???
Very nice post…I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!
Indeed there is – Once Upon a Monster – it’s heavy on the Elmo, making me want to scrach my eyes and ears off, but the boys love it.
We had a great Christmas, thanks. Hope you all did as well.
My husband and I experienced the same thing this year. Neither one of our kids asked for much. My daughter asked Santa for earrings (she doesn’t have her ears pierced, but we’re doing that as our gift to her) and my son wanted trucks and balls, but only little ones. So, at the risk of giving too much of the same thing, we half-filled stockings with a couple small trucks and three super bouncy balls (the mini ones), and a couple pair of earrings, then some fruit (clementines, apples, grapes). The grandparents weren’t with us this year, so there weren’t many gifts under the tree either. But, you know, the kids were ecstatic with their little gifts and the joy was palpable. Once everything was opened, all they wanted to do was get in the car and go visiting! Spending time with friends and family really is a great gift! An excellent Christmas all in all!
Most Christmas presents, the ones that are “just stuff”, are not worth it and a waste of time and money anyway. It sounds like you handled it perfectly (and I love the fact that your son specified the size of the balls and trucks he wanted!)
Glad you had an excellent Christmas!