When your 10 year old declares, “I have enough toys” in a discussion unrelated to Christmas, that’s a hint that 1) it’s time to purge and 2) we may be moving into a new phase where “other than toys” outnumber the toys under the tree.
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Yes, this is where it gets tricky, I find. The “other than toys” wish list tends to get 1) harder to put together and get ideas from, and/or 2) much more expensive!
Our 13-year-old is firmly on the difficult list. It's hard for us, no less grandparents, to know what he'd really like. (It makes it harder that he has Asperger's and has limited interests and less-than-perfect communication skills.)
Our 10-year-old daughter is teetering on the edge — there are still a few toys she wants, but not too many. What she'd really like is a laptop of her own and/or an iPod touch — neither one of which are even close to in our budget.
So with huge financial limits, I'm already stumped on what to get them for Christmas.
Sorry to ramble, but I think the “other than toys” gets hard!
Fortunately, the boys are into camping with Scouts, so getting equipment for that or related activities like hiking is fine. They also like games on the PC (we don't have a video gaming system). AND, thank goodness, they like to get books!
I agree that a laptop and an iPod Touch are too expensive and completely unnecessary for children (these items are definitely on my kids' lists, too). I think my daughter would be happy with an ordinary iPod…and clothes…and she does like craft supplies. I would rather have shelves full of yarn, paint and glue sticks, than toys.
Other than toys is a little tricky. I just asked my older girls what they're wanting for Christmas, and they both gave me long lists of craft supplies. I guess I can't complain about that, but I wouldn't have figured out that by myself! 🙂
We're in that phase also, with three of ours. Our daughter is perfectly happy with clothes. For the older boys, we go with games and books. They are also really into Airsoft right now, so we get things for that. Last year they both wanted iPods as well, but in our family you save for those things yourself. However, Santa brought them each a small gift card to the Apple store to help that along. All our grandparents have jsut started giving money, so my “saver” kids put that away for something big (like an iPod) and my “spender” kids can choose what they would like (with parental veto). I always just ask my kids for ideas – they are never at a loss!
Oh Dear! I am not looking forward to when I reach that age.
Mary is almost 12 and she has already presented her Christmas list:
Sea Monkeys
crib for dollhouse
electric blanket
microscope and slides
Will is 13 and wants a computer, not happening when every time I turn around he is one of the things instead of doing his schoolwork. Today I ripped all the cords out of the ancient desktop and hid them.