Merry Christmas!!!

I haven’t written you a letter since….well, ever. I’ve never really believed in you, but I have a few requests and I don’t reallly want to bother God with this. He has much too much on his plate to worry about me whining about Christmas presents.

So here it goes.

I would like a house. I know you’re thinking, “How the heck is that gonna fit on the back of my sleigh?” Hmmm…I guess you’re right. So let’s see…

I would like one of those adorable pom-pom scarves from Old Navy. Makes me feel like I’m 10 years old again, and I need something cute to distract me from the fact that it’s usually -45 degrees outside.

But seriously, do you know what I really want?

Joy for my kids. Not just on Christmas, when there are presents to open. But forever. Is that too much to ask for?

As soon as the Halloween costumes get marked down 75%, the stores begin to put out their Christmas displays. (Those who love Thanksgiving are just SOL, I guess.) Check out every parenting magazine and they are packed with gift ideas. I just read a few and was slightly impressed. They seem to understand that money is a little tighter this year. Good for them. But that 13 of its “58 Best Toys” were more than $50. I don’t understand spending more than $20 on a toy for a child. They usually don’t get how to play it right away, so they lose interest and therefore spend more time playing with the box it came in. Heck, you might as well hand them a $50 dollar bill and let them play with it. They might have more fun.

So in helping out my young mommies, I will be searching for perfect gifts that won’t cost you an arm and a leg. Here’s my criteria:

1) Under $20. Anything over that is ridiculous. At least for small kids.

2) Some educational component to it. This way, when you hand the kid a toy to play with while you do something else, you won’t feel so guilty. At least they’re learning something, right?

3) Sturdy enough to still be in working condition by Valentine’s Day. I know this one might be a stretch, but let’s just see how it works.

My first recommended toy is this Learn & Groove Drum from (who else?) LeapFrog. Surely, you’ve seen the commercials with the huge frog man and know that LeapFrog is like FisherPrice. (Seriously, FP, step your game up!)

I saw this in the store and thought this was really cool. All the negative reviews seem to be from parents who have younger kids (under 6 months), so keep this off your list unless your little one is on the other side of 365 days, m’kay?