Now that we’ve all had a little time to recover from the holidays, let me ask: Which of your children’s holiday presents are you most glad they got? Are there any you regret? And do they feel differently?
Speaking for myself, I have no regrets. We seem to have progressed past the age when he gets noisy, battery-operated things that play annoying Elmo tunes. (While the Super Mario music can be annoying after a while, at least there’s volume control.) I’m probably most happy he got The LEGO Ideas Book, not only because he enjoys browsing through it for ideas, but because I do, too. If all of your children’s Lego sets are in pieces, and the instructions are nowhere to be found—or if you just want to break out of the mold of following the preconceived instructions—this is a great volume.
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My kids got wonderful gifts. (Our family has great taste — what can I say? :-) For purely selfish reasons, I just get a little impatient when the kids, being 2 and 4, prefer one book or toy over all others in the universe. *I* want to read Ferdinand, Mike Mulligan, and the book about the Canada goose fostered by a family in Idaho, but *they* only want to read “Cock-a-doodle-hoooooo!” again, and again, and again…
For the 7 yr old, the microscope set was a HUGE success. She’s already spent hours looking at slides and thinking up things to peek at.
For the 4 yr old, he was most excited to get his own pillow pet… which I wasn’t sure about buying but glad we did. Mostly, he likes it because his big sister has had one for a while and he strives to be just like her.
The most unlikely hits were also the cheapest — little spy gadgets and kits. Both kids are really into being ‘secret agents’ so the rearview spy glasses ($4 on amazon), finger printing kit, and ‘how to be a spy’ book are getting used a ton.
We have a deal with our siblings who don’t have kids yet-if you give us something loud and obnoxious we will write your name on it and return it to you when you have kids. It has kept them from giving anything too terrible so far but it does nothing for those who have kids older than ours (or the grandparents)
Favorites this xmas were mini-trampoline that allows our 3 year old to jump in the house without angering the downstairs neighbors, pillow pet, books, art supplies, and a doctor kit complete with scrubs so 3 year old can be just like mommy.
We are lucky to be surrounded by loving, generous, and thoughtful family who throroughly spoil our kids.
Not really a regret, since a certain computer game was the only thing my son requested, and he enjoys it greatly now that it’s finally working — but my wife certainly could have done without the 2 or 3 nights it took her to sort out video driver issues so the game would actually work. I had an equally frustrating time buying a gift of additional minutes to load on his cell phone.
And of course his new books are cluttering up horizontal surfaces all over the living room and kitchen, but so are all his other books, so we’re well used to that!