November 14, 2007
Marital Dischord: who says a toddler can't have a gazillion Christmas gifts?
Apprently, James and I have different ideas about how many presents a toddler needs for Christmas. Case in point: the other day I came home from Toys 'R Us with about $50 worth of toys for Olivia and James quite seriously asked me if I was done shopping for her. Now, the toys were worth nearly $100 because I got some great sales and used coupons, but even so, I was far from done at that point. If I'm not mistaken, his wish list definitely totals more than $50, and we should spend more on Olivia than each other.
He doesn't think a toddler needs many gifts because he says she won't understand. I beg to differ. Yesterday, when Olivia woke up, she ran right into the living room and asked excitedly, "Santa do toys?" and I told her "no, not yet." (We've been reading "The Night Before Christmas" with my own explanations of Santa) Then last night, she met Santa in person at the grocery store, and she hasn't stopped talking about him. She keeps telling me, "Santa has hat and belt. Santa has eyes and beard. Santa has fanny." That's my favorite. She's told me a few times that Santa has a fanny. "Yes, he does." I told her, because he indeed does, but I can't figure out why she chose that feature. Although we are talking about the same child who's been putting balls in her shirt and telling me "boofs!" which is what she calls my boobs.
Anyway, I think I've been quite clever picking out toys for Olivia. She's obsessed with facial features and pointing out parts of the body, so I got he a Mr. Potato Head. I know she'll LOVE it. I also got her a baby doll and a bathtub and stroller for it. I also bought her a carrier to wear the baby on her chest. I figure she'll want to be like me when I have the little peanut in a sling. I also got her some puzzles and books. And just to show James just how not done I am, I am going tomorrow to buy Olivia a Rose Cottage. Have you seen this thing? I saw it in a catalogue, and then I was watching "John & Kate Plus 8" and the kids had one. It's awesome. It's like a real house. I don't know where we'll put the thing, but I'll think of something. This is what it looks like if you haven't seen it.
Obviously, no one NEEDS a ton of gifts. We're obviously not rich, but I've been writing these stupid paid posts to get extra Christmas money, and by golly* I'm gonna spend it! :-)
*I can't believe I actually used the words "by golly." I sound like my grandmother.
Posted by Hannah at November 14, 2007 03:37 PMI've seen the Rose Cottage, very cute. My sister in law hates it b/c she says that b/c it has a kitchen and washer and dryer that it is showing little girls that they are supposed to grow up to cook and do laundry, lol. I just laugh at her and tell her they just think it's fun when they're little b/c they want to be like their mommies (and daddies). I assure her that just b/c they play that way when they're little doesn't mean they'll grow up to love doing laundry.
Posted by: Chas at November 14, 2007 06:25 PMThat cottage looks adorable! We have a little house on our back deck and amelia loves it. It is over 15 years old, it used to belong to my sister, then it was our goat's house. Isn't that crazy? Of course, I bleached it to the max, and it's so cute now. It's like Fisher Price or something so I believe it will last forever, and the plastic-y stuff holds up well in the rain.
Posted by: girl from florida at November 14, 2007 08:20 PMI agree with you whole heartedly. Kids should get more at Christmas than adults - at least I fully intend (once I start xmas shopping) to spend more on him than the hubby. Kids get SUCH a kick out of Christmas, and the anticipation and excitement make it all the more worthwhile. What I tend to do though - and this goes for birthdays as well. Is if they get a ton of toys, I take some of them out of 'orbit' and the bubby doesn't even notice, then when I need something new during the year to occupy him with it gets whipped out from the top of the cupboard, and introduced into circulation. It helps to keep everything 'fresh' for the Bubby, and that way he doesn't just toss stuff aside bored, because he has so much stuff he can't decide what to play with. Thinking about James attitude, I have a suspicion if she were a boy - he'd be going NUTS buying Star Wars stuff etc I see how the hubby is with the bubby - he's always buying stuff!
Posted by: Valkyrie at November 14, 2007 11:58 PMBobby & I are the same way about the boys. I don't go overboard but I do like to get them alot of stuff ;) I've seen the Rose Cottage on a commercial & it is quite cute~I wish I'd had one when I was little ;)
Posted by: Connie at November 15, 2007 09:01 AMI just saw your comment on my blog about the CHRISTmas tree & I don't mind at all if you "steal" the idea! I got it off of someone's blog that I saw one day when Kendall was napping & I was blog surfing. Feel free to do it on your blog too :)
Posted by: connie at November 15, 2007 11:03 AMthe cottage is so cute. i would have loved something like that when i was little!
Posted by: cady at November 17, 2007 03:53 PMThe cottage is adorable! We kind of go overboard with the kids at Christmas, but ... it's so much fun! :) BTW ~ *love* your Christmas tree ticker on your sidebar! I need to get one of those. Awesome how you can decorate the tree yourself!
Posted by: Lisanne at November 19, 2007 10:29 AMI saw the Rose Cottage on sale somewhere this week for $50.00...but I can't remember where...it has to be either Walmart, Target, Kmart, or Toys R Us...I saw it in a Sunday salespaper.
Posted by: Chas at November 27, 2007 03:04 PM