What we bought for our kids this Christmas
Several of you asked for a little rundown of what we bought for our kids this Christmas, so, this post is for you!
What I'm listing here is just what we bought for our kids...they also give presents to each other, and receive gifts from grandparents, but if I listed all of that, this post would get super long.
How about we start with the youngest kid?
Zoe has been DYING to get the Calico Critter rabbit grandparents, and she was super excited to find them under the tree Christmas morning.
I love the grandpa's mustache.
Also, she'd lost her favorite fish earrings from Novica, so the last time they sent me a coupon code, I bought her a new pair.
And we got her a big pack of Sculpey clay, which I bought using a 40% off coupon at Michael's.
All three of the girls had fallen in love with a certain umbrella from Target, so we bought one for each of them.
I feel like I'm forgetting something else we got for Zoe.
Hmm...oh, I remember! Her Calico critter musical instrument set is backordered, and we are anxiously awaiting its arrival.
Sonia's one wish for Christmas was the Calico Critter supermarket, which is kind of ridiculously expensive.
But she really, really wanted it, and she really, really loves it, so I feel like it was worth spending almost our whole Christmas budget for her on this one item.
If you have small children at your house, this would probably be a dreadful purchase, because there are so many teeny tiny food items.
But since the youngest person at our house is almost 10, this is working out fine.
We also got Sonia the washing machine set. The washing machine has a manual spinner on top and it goes at quite a clip!
And we got her turtle earrings to match a necklace she got for Christmas a few years back.
Lisey had put a pair of American Giant sweatpants on her list, and since those are pretty pricey, that was her largest gift.
And in addition to that, we bought her a Studio Ghibili movie, some crafting items, and of course, the umbrella.
(Which, hilariously enough, is one of her favorite presents.)
Joshua wanted an American Giant item too...a hoodie (Lisey already got an AG sweatshirt for Christmas last year, which is why she asked for pants this time.)
So, now Mr. FG, Joshua, Lisey and I all have American Giant hoodies. Mahhhhvelous.
We're kind of like a walking fan club when we go out now. 😉
We also got Joshua a burr coffee grinder, some Copic markers, and a piece of headgear for airsoft playing.
And that wraps up our Christmas shopping for our kids, except for all the stocking stuffer items which were largely edibles (mostly from Aldi, of course.)
Our kids have all been using/playing with everything we bought for them and that makes me feel happy. I can't really get into mindless gift buying or gifts that turn into useless clutter, but well-made gifts that my kids will really love are a whole 'nother story.
More of that, I say!
Edit: I forgot to tell you yesterday that there are a limited number of Mrs. Meyer's free cleaning sets, so if you are wanting one, it's smart to get it now rather than later.
I love it when you can get kids the gifts that aren't just clutter. My son just wanted some computer parts to upgrade his computer. It's great because they get installed into his computer, so we don't have the extra clutter around the house.
I'm curious about how many gifts you (and your readers!) typically give your kids each year.
We do Hanukkah rather than Christmas, but the principle is the same. There are eight nights, so I figured each grandparent would do a night, and one night our daughter would get something I knit for her to wear, so that leaves five gifts. I already thought that was too many, but I had no idea what was coming...
One set of grandparents decided they wanted to do every single night. They only told us when the gifts arrived. Suddenly our daughter wound up with 15+ gifts, and can't possibly pay attention to many of them (frankly, she wears the PJs and plays with one gift- the xylophone we got her). I've tried to stretch them out and introduce them over a longer period, but that's just left all the grandparents upset.
As a Jewish mom who didn't have any sets of grandparents for her kids, this seems like a luxury problem. You could always save some of the gifts for Purim, for finding the afikomen at Passover and throw one in for her Hebrew birthday. You could also have her save one to donate to a local social service organization to help a needy child.
This will enhance the other holidays as special days and also emphasize the importance of tzedakah (charity.)
Oops! Sorry, I didn't closely read the end of your post about the grandparents getting upset at the idea of stretching out the gifts. Well, you are the mom! And really, who can argue with the idea of enhancing the other special days of the Jewish calendar?
We don't pay so much attention to the number of gifts as we do to a dollar amount, which we try to keep fairly similar between the kids. So they know if they're wanting something pretty expensive, that'll reduce the total number of gifts they get.
If you think it might go ok, could you chat with the grandparents before next year to see if you could work out some kind of compromise?
If worse comes to worse, though, and the grandparents live locally, you could just set the toys aside for everyday purposes and pull them out when the grandparents visit. 😉
Okay, those animals are ridiculously cute. Do you think Annie (6) is too little? Or that her brothers would mutilate them?
Well, the actual animals would probably be fine. The teeny tiny accessory pieces would be a problem, though! So at your family's stage, I might just stick with the critters and a simple house.
I love all your gifts,especially the umbrellas.Thoughtful gifts are much more important than just stuff. My christmas budget isn't very big but I always put a lot of thought into my kids gifts.They are always happy. Some of their friends get so much stuff and still are not happy.
That cracks me up that your son wanted a coffee grinder! My 16 year old son also now drinks coffee; I still am surprised when I see him take a cup to go
Yes, he is quite into coffee-making these days. He had an electric grinder, but wanted to try the burr grinder because it apparently makes better coffee.
He buys a very expensive locally roasted bean, so he doesn't drink it every day. He'd have trouble affording it otherwise! 😉
Another idea that might be helpful to someone else...we do Christmas for our 6 children pretty small (about $25 each) and do their birthday much bigger. I feel that helps emphasize the fact that Christmas is not about us and what we are getting, but your birthday is about you and how special you are to us. That also serves to spread the spending out over the year.
This is brilliant!
This year both my girls asked for clothes! And sport related clothes at that-you know, leggings, sweatshirts, athletic pants. How great is that?! I couldn't believe they did want any tech/electronic items! My girls are 15 and 11. In addition to clothes my older daughter asked for an Ultimate Frisbee duffle bag. I was able to get almost everything on sale, with the exception of the duffle bag. What a great Christmas for this mom's pocketbook!
My "kids" had small and reasonable gift lists, but we blew the doors off gifting them, mostly because we had some unexpected windfall in December. However, going forward, I am lowering the amount we spend on Christmas and birthdays because of the whole too much STUFF issue. Hubby is on board with he and I not needing too much more either. All in all, the best thing we got for Christmas wasn't a thing at all - the time we spent together, all 6 of us, in one place, for some peaceful time. It was like the old days!
We decided to mindfully keep our Christmas gift giving small because we wanted items our kids would love, not a lot of clutter. All three kids got a wooden block and a Duplo set to share. These are by far the most popular Christmas gifts. My girl (3) got a doll crib and tangram set. My middle boy (2) got a kids tool set that sister also loves and a toy backhoe. My baby boy (10 months) has a back ordered gift that will be here next week...a car rug to warm up the wooden floor in the boys' room and give the kids somewhere fun to drive all their vehicles. That was it from parents, and all of it gets plenty of use.
I'm loving those Calico Critters. Now that we know how young is too young for them, is 62 too old for them? 😉 (I don't have any young 'uns around)
I don't know, Diane...can you be trusted with all those tiny packages?? 😉
I was going to ask almost the same thing! I cannot stand how adorable that supermarket is!
omg yes!! I still have my (26 year old) daughter's one calico critter on my bureau -- love it. Those intricate play sets are awesome -- can imagine the many hours of creative fun they are having!
These Calico Critters are so fun! I love the "admiral" grandfather. I would have LOVED to have that supermarket when I was young! So much fun.
I hope Joshua likes his burr grinder - I think it makes much better coffee than an electric, plus it's a GREAT forearm workout 🙂
we do the "one want, one need, one wear, one read" deal in our house, and it works out swimmingly.. the kids are more mindful of what they really really want, that we don't get crazy long wish lists 🙂 also, it allows us to purchase one larger ticket item and still stay in budget.
we do allow for some flexibility though, for instance, my son loves to draw, so his "read" was a kid's sketch book. my husband's "wear" was some new headphones, etc.
the hardest thing we have is coming up with a "need", since we teach the kids that there are lots of things you may want, but they aren't missing anything they truly need (and to be grateful for it!). so my son got some soccer gear, and my daughter organizational stuff, which is always handy for both of them.
I see pics of Christmas trees overflowing with presents, and am quite grateful for our four gift deal, plus the kids buy each other pj's every year.
we do individual stockings with little goodies, fuzzy socks, etc, and then since we still have a santa believer, santa brings family gifts, like board games 🙂
What we've done is make lists (this started with my brother, who enjoys gift-giving but hates guessing). We have cheap gifts, moderate, and expensive to choose from. I usually get my kids one expensive item that they've asked for, one or two moderate, and then fill up their stockings with the cheap stuff (or art supplies, we go through those so quickly).
Are these presents including ones from Santa,too?
We actually have never done Santa at our house, so from the time they were really young, our kids knew that all of their presents came from family/friends/each other. So, yeah, this is the total of the gifts that Mr. FG and I bought for them.
Kristen, I like that you don't buy your kids a ton of gifts. It's really not good to overdo the gifts, as is explained in The Tightwad Gazette. And I agree that the expense should not be huge. When I see the commercials for cars and diamond rings and rooms full of furniture -- for Christmas gifts, really? I just cringe!
My sister gave me a book of projects and recipes to do with kids, since I have grandkids now. It was old and probably cost her $5 all those years ago when she first bought it, but it's still a great book and a great Christmas gift.
My daughter is 10 and still loves her Calico Critters, so I'm glad we aren't the only family with an "older" child who enjoys them (although her buddy from church is a year older and loves to come to our house to play with them). I LOVE the grandparents and the washer. I haven't seen those yet.
I must have the oddest children on the planet. Neither one of them will make a list of what they want--they like to be surprised (which sounds nice, but can be stressful if you aren't sure you are on the right track). I tend to pick up items year-round and stash them for Christmas and birthdays. My daughter's favorite gift this year? One I bought on a lark at a bookstore last May--My First Sewing Book with lots of cute hand-sewn projects . I think I paid a whopping $5 for it and she is in love with it.
You just never know what will really be a hit with a kid sometimes! One year when Sonia was small, her favorite thing was a little pack of Hello Kitty candies that I picked up on a whim.
Love that you are buying fewer, quality items for them. And I think it's neat that girls of that age are so into the whole Calico critter thing. So nice and innocent!!
Yes! I am totally happy for them to be into that as long as they so wish. Play make-believe as long as you can, I say.
You can't not say what Ghibli movie you bought Lisey?
Haha! I wasn't meaning to be sneaky...it's just that she got SO many Ghibli movies, I'm having a hard time keeping track! I think the one we bought her was The Cat Returns, but she also got Nausica and Spirited Away and one other one that escapes me now.
The Cat Returns is fantastic! It's sort of a spinoff of my absolute favorite of all Ghibli films, "Whisper of the Heart."
Ah, Lisey has that one too. And Totoro, of course, which is the movie that she first saw.
When I was a child, Santa always brought me a craft kit of some kind, along with other things. Truthfully I don't remember the other "things", but I have clear memories of the items I made from the kits. Because of this, I followed the same tradition with my son. We now enjoy using those skills to craft our gifts throughout the year. It is quite enjoyable for me to spend the time between Christmas and New Year's looking at the year ahead and making a list of the items I want to make for special events. The second enjoyable thing I get to do during that time is to start making the first gift on my list!
I have a 19 year old son, who is mildly autistic and loves basketball, and a 16 year old daughter who is a competitive dancer and budding actress. My son doesn't ask for things, but he loves our favorite college team, Oklahoma State Cowboys and OKC Thunder pro basketball. We replaced his old OSU zip up sweatshirt and OSU flag for our outdoor flagpole and got him a new Thunder shirt. We planned to splurge on tickets for him and his dad to attend a Thunder game, but before we bought them, his uncle won a pair of tickets at work (great seats!) and gave them to us!!! They had fun and it was a great game! My daughters theatre group friend's mom wanted to surprise her daughter with a ticket to "Beauty and the Beast" musical and take some of her friends, so we got our daughter her ticket and she got to spend a fun evening downtown OKC with friends at the theatre. She also got new house shoes, hair scrunchies, and got to pick out new sneakers and ankle boots, both on sale at outlet mall. They both enjoyed their gifts and ther fun experiences!
I'm now a great grandmother, but your list of gifts reminds me of the way we gave Christmas gifts to our kids. They still have fond memories of Christmas mornings long ago.
I, too, love thoughtful gifts that don't create clutter. My girls only got 2 presents this year (next year we are going to attempt no presents and rather go skiing and to a water park). They don't know any different (that other kids may receive massive amounts of gifts) and they were both thrilled with each item. They also make each other a gift every year. This year my 4 year old (with help from me) sewed a teddy bear. It was quite possibly the cutest thing ever.
I wish we could see a picture of the bear. That sounds so sweet!
I second that!
In our house, we do lots of presents, but they are presents that get use often. My mom loves gifts (her "love tank" is filled by gift giving, as explained in 'The Five Love Languages'), so she can't stand to not get much for others. My dad's parents just give us money and a small gift which is perfect and my mom's dad and stepmother shower us with gifts because they weren't very present in her life when she was young. Even with all of these gifts, it's stuff that we really wanted and love, such as special athletic wear, art supplies for me, dance gear for my sister, Vera Bradley umbrellas and toiletry bags, and just cute, useful stuff (we are teenagers currently). The twinkle lights and candle I got is used almost every day, and my stump teapot is used at least 3 times per week. My crime brûlée set, that is a little less used, but will last a lifetime. I like that you also do meaningless gifts, just as we do. I suppose that the amount is often varied because of income and where money is chosen to be spent.
We get pajamas every year from "the pajama fairy" and my sister and I also spend a good amount of our babysitting money on gifts for family and friends.