Christmas Worries
The other night I went out to dinner with some lovely Mummy friends of mine. I casually asked them what they were getting their daughters, all the same age as Little Miss, for Christmas. They listed off lots of things! All the gifts sounded brilliant. Most of the stuff we can’t afford. They asked me what we were getting for Little Miss and sheepishly I admitted that I didn’t really know. I didn’t know what we could afford! And I also haven’t given a ton of thought to what I want to get for Little Miss as well. You see, as much as I want to give Little Miss the world, a) we can’t afford it and b) I don’t know that Little Miss needs to have THE WORLD at the age of 17-18 months. I feel like if she gets a ton of things this Christmas (which she won’t), then we have to equal or better it next Christmas which then just becomes a contest and more of a stress than it should be.
I remember Christmases growing up. We had TONS of presents! My brother and I would hand out the presents to everyone and then we’d sit and take turns opening pressies. I would always stack mine from biggest to smallest and carefully unwrap each present; never peeking until the entire wrapping paper was off. In fact, I would carefully unwrap each present in order to prolong the surprise. No tearing into pressies for me! No, I wanted to make the suspense last as long as possible. And then, when I got whatever present out, I would savour it and gaze at it until it was my turn again to open another present. This present opening usually took HOURS with an intermission at some point so the adults could sneak a drink and the kids could burn off some energy. I loved Christmas…it was my favourite holiday EVER.
Back to the present. What to do for our Little Miss?? It’s a bit tricky really. We have family in the US and it’s hard for them to buy things for her (Amazon is good…other online “wish lists” are good but if I put things on them, usually nothing comes off of them!). My family here will get things that we suggest, I’m sure. It’s just hard…I so want Little Miss to have a stack of presents to open and be so excited about what’s in them but I don’t think that stack will be very high. And to tell you the truth, I don’t want her to have a ton of things that she’s not going to play with a lot. I would rather have a handful of toys that she’ll love and will entertain her and won’t be relegated to the bottom of the toy bin. In fact, I really need to go through Little Miss’ toys and take things out that she never plays with and pass them on to a charity shop or new home.
What are you doing for your child’s Christmas this year? We’re all struggling with the recession/being stay-at-home Mums/maternity benefits/one income/etc.- how will your family cope? Please share any suggestions…I’d love to know! I’ll leave you with two items I’d love Little Miss to have…we’ll see if Santa is reading!
Dotty Wot
Fisher Price Farm
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For Christmas we are getting Baby Boy a car garage and a few little bits and bobs. We made the mistake with Top Ender of getting her everything we saw, which meant an overwhelming amount of toys and we still live in a Toy shop now. I feel that anything Fisher Price Little People is good value as they are so sturdy IMHO and even Top Ender like to play with them!
Howdy
I remember when Lil Fella was 17-18 months, all it took to make him happy was anything noisy
Of course we never bought those things for him – it was always the rest of the family who seemed oblivious to the shattered nerves.
Back to the point however, I think you are right – get stuff that actually counts – when we were kids, toys were simpler and cheaper, hence us remembering we got more. I wouldn’t worry too much. It’ll be wonderful whatever you get.
It’s so hard, isn’t it?
LD will only be about 9 months, so won’t *really* know what it’s all about, and will probably be far more intersted in all the paper & ribbons anyway!!
I want him to hav a little pile of parcels to open though, so have been stretching my budget by buying 3 for 2′s – and I’ve been saving up by Boots Advantage points all year too – have nearly £50 of points & they have lots of lovely toys on 3 for 2
I agree with you though – I don’t want him to come to expect a million presents every year – and I don’t want loads of toys mounting up untouched either!
Perhaps you could ask your family in the states to buy vouchers – mothercare or ELC maybe, then you could use them to buy things through the year? xx
Take advantage of it! Once they go to school and start talking about what they all want, that’s when it gets expensive
I must admit her first Christmas I went a bit nuts, but since then I’ve reigned it in. I *think* for her second Xmas we got her some Teletubbies, books, big floor jigsaw….can’t remember what else! So don’t worry about it, as long as she has a couple of toys and a ton of wrapping paper to play with she’s really not going to care that much. I on the other hand have Wii games, Airfix kits and a Build a Bear list a mile long to contend with. It’s all about managing expectation when they’re older 
Thanks for giving me something to look forward to!
I know I’ve got it easy for now…we’ll enjoy the ease of her 2nd official Christmas and think of you stressing! 
Last year Little Miss was only 6 months old so we didn’t have to do much to impress her and unfortunately, she didn’t have much to be impressed by anyway. This year will be trickier but she’s pretty easily impressed so I don’t think we’ll have to try too hard.
Thanks for the comments Mrs! We’ll aim for less noise, more entertainment and intact nerves!
I’m aiming for a bit of Fisher-Price as well…it’s a good thing!
Check out my blog for 3 FREE early Christmas pressies you can each try out