I know my facebook friends have been enjoying living vicariously through my Christmas gift ideas posts. Or at least some of them are. The rest of you are all either Grinches or having a rough Christmas. Sorry!
Anyway, back to Christmas wish lists. Making lists of gift ideas and researching them online and planning is possibly my favorite part of Christmas. It’s why (if money allows) sometimes random people get random gifts for me. Because picking things out is SO MUCH FUN.
Now I have five children! Five wonderfully unique children with individual interests and wishes. And you know what I do? I don’t read their Christmas wish lists or dig through the catalogs that they carefully circle things in. It’s probably why we have a significant flop rate on our gifts. Because the dream of the gift is super important to me… and sometimes the follow through shows it was just a dream. But I dream on. Maybe I should dig through the catalogs. But… no. They circle things that I KNOW would fall flat and be discarded in less than an hour. At least the things we end up buying have the potential for months of engagement.
So Christmas.
We can’t do lots of things on the holidays, because our family lives with trauma and autism and stuff…. but we all enjoy preparing for the big day and eating too much and too many sweets. And the girls LOVE presents. Daniel might too. I’ll let you know. It’s his second Christmas with us and he’s a quick learner. Jordan likes hanging out with us and he likes the music and the candles and new toys.
Where was I?
Living vicariously. So I’ve been shopping for some really cool things. This year, our budget is $100 per child plus $5 for each stocking. We’ve tucked money away all year in order to do this freely. We also saved enough money for Brian to go on Daddy-daughter dates – one with each girl. Maybe a movie, maybe ice cream, maybe bowling… I don’t know what they’ll pick. It’s one on one and done during his time off from work near Christmas day.
We have so many cool ideas and so many interests between the kids! And the kids have limitations too and needs. So how to choose! That’s where I make long lists and then hang out online looking at the different ideas. And asking on facebook for input and experience.
So if you read this and then see us before Christmas – SHHHHHHHhhh!!!!
I got a metal detector! I’m so excited! I hope it doesn’t break quickly, because it was $30 on Black Friday and has lots of plastic parts.
And I’m getting some metal trinkets so that there is more to find out there… maybe I will gather some trinkets and coins into a cloth bag to bury. Ideally canvas or oiled leather or…. okay, I am getting carried away and dreaming of books I read where people find ancient pirate loot.
I’m shopping the hot wheels tracks for Daniel…. picking out one that should at least launch toys into the wall to a few squeals of glee.
I’m looking up cool survival stuff for Maggie and Carrie, who love playing outside in the woods. THey have some survival kits, so I was looking up survival food and lifestraws and things like that…. I might get some convenience foods since they’re cheaper than emergency or hiking food. Like oatmeal cups and ramen cups or tiny cereal boxes. I have more thinking to do here before anything is bought.
Craft or art supplies are definitely on the table. Music-playing electronics perhaps.
Okay – no more spoilers. DON”T TALK TO MY KIDS ABOUT THIS OR YOU WILL GET THUMPED ON THE HEAD WITH THE METAL DETECTOR. You’ve been warned.
Happy planning!