The Leapster 2 has an awesome bundle-pack through Amazon. I practically NEED it for Woodjie and Rose for Christmas. D isn't quite sold, however.
"How about just rice in an old pop bottle? *shake-a, shake-a* They'll love it," was his Christmas gift suggestion.
Well, I meant a real gift...
"So, you have to spend MONEY to have a REAL gift?" he questioned. "Can't we just have a real Christmas at home where nobody gets anything and everyone would be disappointed, but then, we wouldn't have spent anything..."
Arg. And he keeps on and on about it and I think he's for real.
"Well, I'm tired of all the fights and everybody fighting over stuff," he told me. "Don't we have enough stuff already? What about the expensive handheld toy you bought before for Rose and Woodjie? I haven't seen those in a while..."
Yeah. A month. You know. I haven't dug around in the cabinets since my surgery. I haven't done much of anything. (Not that it was that expensive... they were less than $20 each and were probably one of two new toys I got them this year.)
Well, there you go. Stuff gets stuffed into cabinets, and hundreds and hundreds of dollars just gets all dusty and then you forget it is there.
You know... there is no arguing with logic like this. He's right (somewhat, but not to that extent). We will dig the old Nintendo out of a Japanese orange box where it's been stored for about ohh... six years... for the little children's Christmas. The Nintendo is so old it was new when I was a teen. No, not Nintendo 64 or anything like that. The Nintendo that is so old it doesn't have a number or letter designation after it. The original, first Nintendo system. With Zelda (tm) cartridge. And the original cartridge where Mario and Luigi are *enemies.* It's that old.
The only condition is that all the other children have to be able to play it. D doesn't want fights over anything! Sighhh again. Well. I just deleted $279 from my Amazon cart, and really... the only person who wanted the little kids to have something new was me. *shrug*
What are you doing for Christmas for your family? Have you found ways to save on presents this year? Has it been hard for you, too?
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Look Out, Dad!!
My father is the purple dot above the blue weather station. He's juuust outside Milton's evacuation zone. Well! My brother and I jus...
Christmas was simpler when my kids were little back in the 70's. Technological toys weren't around so much yet and the kids were happy enough with toys that didn't even need batteries. We'd get them a "joint" gift, like a trampoline or blowup pool, then an individual gift each, usually something that added on to something they already had or something they'd specifically asked for if we could afford it.
ReplyDeleteNow? Everybody is older and happy enough with gift certificates to spend in the after Christmas sales.
Oh my! Just lumps of coal again this year, eh?
ReplyDelete:)
This is the first year that the kids really know what is going on. In 2008 we just bought them each 1 gift. Last year my Mom sent them a box of toys (pre-loved and new). This year I have squirrled things away all year. Hot Wheels (new and pre-loved) for Ian, some pre-loved Thomas the train stuff, a stack of home made animal themed crocheted hats for Olivia and some new puzzles. Their big gifts are some wooden toys we bought off of Trademe. The great thing about our kids is we don't watch any television (just DVDs occassionally) so they never see commercials and don't do the whole "I want..." Still having these foster kids this weekend has made me realize just how MUCH stuff our kids have--even second hand toys are really special when you don't have any. We're really blessed.
ReplyDeleteAmazon Leapster is awesome. I always purchase something educational... of course this year it is time for computer updatess... it's gonna be expensive.
ReplyDeleteWhy don't you ask hubby to SERIOUSLY set a budget and then you can pick and choose some learning games that fit into the budget.
I just want to say, as a nanny and ex pre-k teacher, that I think an age appropriate education toy would be some much better then an old gaming system that will probably be more frustrating then fun for your little ones, not that it can't be fun for them but they would get a whole lot more out of something educational that is geared to their age. The family I work for just got their 2.5 year old a leap frog click-start, it's a computer that connect to the TV for only $29.99(it was on sale but the normal price is still only $40) and the extra games for it are between $7.99-$8.99. It is a very nice system you might want to look into.
ReplyDeleteI dread this time of year.
ReplyDeleteWith 6 kids (and their partners), 8 grandkids, husband, parent etc etc... it worries me all year about how I am going to get something for everyone.
I started getting presents for this Christmas last February!
I have done a lot of personalised t-shirts this year. And dresses for the little girls, placemats for some of the adults etc. So I am on top of it this year I hope.
It doesn't help that there are birthdays in Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb, Mar.... right up until June! July/August and September are the only 'free' months now!