What I’m Getting My Kids for Christmas, Or, I Hope My Kids Don't Read This: Part I — by Guest Mom Kacy Faulconer
If you believe in Santa, stop reading now.
In my family we got wrapped presents from my mom under the tree. These were good, but the real show stoppers came from Santa Claus. He did not wrap. He made beautiful displays of toy sets put together, dolls dressed and posed and (as we got older—MUCH older, I’m not embarrassed to admit) outfits laid out exactly as we would wear them. Once the whole ceiling was strung with candy hanging from ribbons. It was the best and that is why I love Christmas. My husband’s Santa wrapped their Christmas-morning presents. Can you imagine!
This year I decided to give myself a month to shop for each of my children’s Christmas. At the end of the month I had to be done and I couldn’t add to it later. See, the problem with starting early is that you can just keep on going. October was Maggie’s month. She is six and this is what she’s getting for Christmas.
To open on Christmas Eve, I’m making pajamas. I haven’t done this for years because, frankly, I can’t sew and they never turn out. I got her some pig slippers to go with. Her main Santa Claus present is a baby wagon, which I heard about from nieniedialogues last year.
Inside of it will be some doll clothes for D.W. (her old Baby Born doll) and an outfit for Samantha (her hand-me-down American Girl doll.) Maggie doesn’t know it yet, but for her birthday in February she will get her own brand new American Girl. I also found a set of American Girl chapter books at Costco to give her.
But the featured reading present will be a set of Little House on the Prairie books. This CD will go with it:
In first grade you start getting into Cat’s Cradle. So I also got her this:
Her biggest (most expensive gift) is a set of silk scarves to play with.
Does that seem like a lot? Not enough? I never know until I see it. I hope it will be just right.
In my family we got wrapped presents from my mom under the tree. These were good, but the real show stoppers came from Santa Claus. He did not wrap. He made beautiful displays of toy sets put together, dolls dressed and posed and (as we got older—MUCH older, I’m not embarrassed to admit) outfits laid out exactly as we would wear them. Once the whole ceiling was strung with candy hanging from ribbons. It was the best and that is why I love Christmas. My husband’s Santa wrapped their Christmas-morning presents. Can you imagine!
This year I decided to give myself a month to shop for each of my children’s Christmas. At the end of the month I had to be done and I couldn’t add to it later. See, the problem with starting early is that you can just keep on going. October was Maggie’s month. She is six and this is what she’s getting for Christmas.
To open on Christmas Eve, I’m making pajamas. I haven’t done this for years because, frankly, I can’t sew and they never turn out. I got her some pig slippers to go with. Her main Santa Claus present is a baby wagon, which I heard about from nieniedialogues last year.
Inside of it will be some doll clothes for D.W. (her old Baby Born doll) and an outfit for Samantha (her hand-me-down American Girl doll.) Maggie doesn’t know it yet, but for her birthday in February she will get her own brand new American Girl. I also found a set of American Girl chapter books at Costco to give her.
But the featured reading present will be a set of Little House on the Prairie books. This CD will go with it:
In first grade you start getting into Cat’s Cradle. So I also got her this:
Her biggest (most expensive gift) is a set of silk scarves to play with.
Does that seem like a lot? Not enough? I never know until I see it. I hope it will be just right.
posted by Gabrielle of Design Mom at Wednesday, December 06, 2006
12 Comments:
my four year old has the silk scarves and plays with them EVERY day. in all the ways shown in the picture. she also pretends they are long hair and she wraps her dolls in them. they are also great for dress up when we act out the nativity. her smart mémère gave them to her.
love the wagon. a fine example of how i could keep on buying.
What a great haul!! I think anyone would be thrilled to get these gifts.
And the Santa display on Christmas morning is the ONLY way to go...Santa and the elves don't have time for wrapping. That's just silly.
Santa at our home growing up was also all about the presentation. Coming down on Christmas morning was magical. This is now the main source of my stress every December - "will it LOOK great, or will each child's corner of the couch look as exciting as the other's?" It was pretty easy when they were little, but as the boys get older (my oldest two are 10 and 8), the things they want from Santa are smaller and of course MUCH more expensive. The first year I noticed this was when my oldest son asked Santa for a Game Boy and the next son begged for the Gigantic Rescue Hero Battle Ship Command center. I think I purchased something big but inexpensive to set next to the Game Boy so it didn't look like my one son got jipped. So every year I probably over buy and then set it out on Christmas Eve and do a visual check and possible rearranging - crazy, I know. Last year the plan was to lay out Yankees t-shirts next to each of the four piles (a cool unifying facter I thought) but of course I had hidden them so well that I forgot about them Christmas Eve. Oh well. . . It's a lot of stress but I love the wow factor when the kids come down the stairs.
My question is this: how do you make it look "even" while spending relatively the same amount on children young and old or should I even worry about it?
I'm with Julianne. I worry about the visual impact. But I also worry about where to store something like a giant teddy bear the rest of the year. I love the candy hanging from ribbons idea.
We were also big "Santa Display" families when we were kids. It was so great to run down the stairs, and then scan over that magical pile of goodness and see all the details. We have been inspired by your candy canes from the ceiling idea, and will be implementing it this Christmas.
Let me say this, too. I don't believe in monetay equality on Christmas, at least until my kids get older and understand the cost of things. This year our boys, who are 2.5 and 1 will be getting a big train table to share and some hand-me-down Little People sets in PERFECT condition from my sister in law (Thanks, Lynette!) Jonah is also getting a Garbage Truck, because it is his greatest wish and dream come true. We stressed for a while over what to get Noel to balance out the Garbage Truck, and then realized that he'll never know that Jonah's gifts cost more than his gifts. He'll be thrilled with the train set and the little people stuff and the things in his stocking.
I like to wrap it all. The unwrap "surprise" is what I like. And the kids always look at the stuff before I make it downstairs! So then I wouldn't see the wow look if it was unwrapped. But I never wrapped skateboards or bikes or trikes! I love the scarves.
My daughter will turn 6 on Christmas Day. I already shopped for her, but might have to add some of these - she would love them all!
That is so funny to hear people's recollections of Christmas morning--we always had a "corner of the couch" too. I'm just proud of myself for FINALLY taking enough pleasure in giving to my own kids to make up for the fact that my mom cut my Santa stuff off a few years ago.
I think that stuff is just right. We tend to underbuy for our kids and it always seems like enough. I love that little wagon and I remember when Steph blogged about it last year. Cool!
How did Santa put candy on the ceiling w/ ribbon? I want to do that but would love a visual picture...this year all the grandkids are going to be at Grandmas and I want "SANTA" to plan something extra special....
Our Santa wrapped everything but one gift that was displayed. In my new family we do a mixture of both, but mostly because it takes too freaking long to unwrap everything and the kids are too small.... I am so inspired...
RE: Overbuying. Our dear neighbors bought so much stuff for their four kids that the family were still opening presents when my son went over for the "what-did-you-get" visit. In fact, when he came home he reported that there were still gifts unopened, but the kids had stopped. They'd lost interest.
at my inlaw's house (and these are all adults here...) they have so much that they stop for breakfast and then start up again after everyone has a little rest.
Yeah, I think that is classified as over buying......
Seems like just right to me (ok, to be honest, it seems liked a lot, but, after reading everyone's over-buy stories, it seems just right.)
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