In what can only be described as a Herculean effort fool’s errand, I announced to my family that I wanted to finish Christmas shopping this year by the end of November. The fallout was mighty. However, the most unexpected consequence of my hubris came from my mom. Namely, she met my request with one of her own: “I’ll send you my list when I get one for my grandson.”
I believe that was my mom shouting a very festive “Checkmate!”
So I embarked upon what retailers lead me to believe would be a fairly easy task: making my toddler a Christmas list. Attempt after attempt left me stymied. So now, I’m turning it over to the masses: What should I put on my toddler’s Christmas list?
The Christmas Gifting Rule of Thumb
Pinterest runneth over with reminders of this handy gift-giving mantra for children:
Something you want, something you need, something to wear, and something to read.
It’s so good, it’s been my default since long before I was a mom and only worried about buying gifts for my nephews and my goddaughter.
But as fantastic as this gifting rule of thumb is, I’m still struggling to come up with with much of a list. Here’s the list in pieces.
Something You Want
I know my kid pretty well. That’s the problem. When he does want something, we either buy it or work around it. (Now you know why I was so worried about lifestyle inflation and our budget!)
For instance, he’s fascinated with puzzles. He loves the challenge, and he’s more than happy to do them over and over again with less and less help. We’ve purchased a few (and have been gifted others!), but mostly, when HP wants a new puzzle, we go to the library and check one out.
We are also fortunate to have really generous people in our lives who give HP gifts not just for Christmas and birthdays, but for smaller events and even “just because.”
The kid really doesn’t want anything.
Case in point?
I went straight to the source. I told him that Grandma wants to know what you want for Christmas this year. He didn’t miss a beat. He looked at me and said, “A pouch!”
After clarifying what I already guessed, I learned that the one thing on my son’s list this year is–in fact–an applesauce pouch.
This is not what Grandma had in mind.
The list so far:
- An applesauce pouch
Something You Need
We are so fortunate to be a family whose basic needs (and most wants!) are met. I also know that my mom is a big fan of giving what she calls Practical Gifts. These aren’t the most basic necessities, but they’re not topping Amazon’s Hot 100 list either.
If she’s talking about my dad, well, that means she’s buying him underwear and socks. When she requests a Practical Gift for herself (“Just be practical for my birthday!”), it means she wants her salon shampoo and conditioner.
I always rolled my eyes at Practical Gifts when I was younger, but now I absolutely love them. Practical items might be boring, but they’re also expensive. If someone else wants to absorb that cost for me, I am here for it. Taking a cue from her, the first year that HP was born, the only thing I put on his list was diapers and wipes. Because what else do adorable baby blobs need really?
So I thought long and hard about what might meet my mom’s criteria as a Practical Gift. Here’s what I have:
- New toothbrush
- New toothpaste
- An extra potty seat
- An extra water bottle
I could put diapers on the list (and probably should), but HP is super interested in his potty and big boy underpants. Then, I thought about putting those on the list, but that seemed like a big ol’ jinx.
Something to Wear
After a fantastic run of hand-me-downs, HP has officially outgrown his hand-me-down source. So while we don’t need any clothing in his current size, I am considering mentioning some of the items that he might need in the future.
RELATED POST: Should I Feel Guilty for Accepting Hand-Me-Downs?
The downside to this is having to store them. The upside is that Mr. P decided long ago that I am not coordinated enough to walk on the attic beams (He’s absolutely right–if anyone falls through, it will be me!), this isn’t totally my problem. WINK! The other drawback is I’m not sure how quickly he will move through sizes.
So here’s what I’ve got:
- Clothes at least one size up – snow pants, jacket, pajamas
Something to Read
You can never have too many books.
Until you do.
Though my toddler has taught us to embrace many aspects of minimalism, our house is positively overflowing with books. We cannot go to the library without checking out at least 5-10 items. Plus, books are the one thing that I can’t seem to stop myself from buying for him. (You, online friends, share blame in this. Since many of you tell me time and time again that books are OK.)
I don’t really want to ask for books, but there is one that I know HP will squeal over since he “reads” the library copy at least 10 times a day:
- Tip Tip, Dig Dig – board book
What Should I Put On My Toddler’s Christmas List?
In addition to these items, I always mention to the both sets of grandparents that we would happily take a park district gift card to put towards swim lessons or other classes. They also know we have a 529 set up for him, and sometimes give us a gift for that as well.
So here’s the list in full:
- An applesauce pouch
- New toothbrush
- Toothpaste
- An extra potty seat
- An extra water bottle
- Clothes at least one size up – snow pants, jacket, pajamas
- Tip Tip, Dig Dig – board book
- Gift cards for park district classes
- Funds for 529
Even if I use the Pinterest-perfect gifting rule of thumb, I can’t come up with anything else. It fills me with joy to feel like we have everything that we could want or need. I can’t wait to pay it forward to another family this holiday season as well.
But I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that there was also a bit of dread for what my mom’s response will be when HP’s list hits her inbox.
So Tell Me…What are the odds that my mom will accept this list? OK, it’s zero. I know it’s zero. What should I put on my toddler’s Christmas list?
Psssst. For anyone who is about to drop a comment like “presence are better than presents,” HP sees both sets of grandparents multiple times per week. And I actually put that on his Christmas list last year anyway and Mom laughed in my face and told me to try again. So…that’s not it either.
1. Edibles. Not sure what they’re into but at some point in the future, the Hatchling is getting some Oreos as part of their Christmas gift. Reindeer poop would be too much effort for me…but maybe Maltesers…?
2 .Use-upable crafty bits – like crayons? Or mini science experiments? Like a make your own [insert interest gere] kit? (cake, cookies [Yes, I’m hungry], volcano, rocket, crystals, bird feeder, sock puppet.
3. Fridge magnets that make up a scene or something?
4. Cress seeds, or something similar that sprouts fairly quickly.
5. Surprise jar – 12 activities in a jar and they can choose one at some point in the twelve days after Christmas.
One might be a picture of an applesauce pouch, I dunno….
6. Story cube. Each face has got a a different animal/character on it and you can make up nonsense stories.
The Hatchling is getting a big ball from me this year and that’s it, but they’re only 1 anyway, so…
This list is epic, Draig! I might just copy and paste the whole thing!
Great post! I always want a gift of an experience- if its in the budget. Its great for the kids and its great for me- I don’t have to pay for a trip and its a pre-planned activity. Something like a museum membership or indoor play area card etc
The indoor play area is a terrific idea! Since my parents always try to take him, I bought a Groupon earlier this year, but our passes are almost used up!
During my son’s first year, my mother gave us a subscription to Growing Child and I remember they had a gift list. Because what do you give a 6-month old? We were giving to his 529 plan but both sets of grandparents wanted to give multiple gifts!! Even with my son at three and a half now, I recently googled the Growing Child gift list and used that for some ideas. That and we are really in to trains. It’s difficult when you need to come us with 12-15 gifts and overwhelming to think of the influx of all that stuff in to my home. Plus we have a second child this year. He’s getting new bibs and applesauce pouches in his stocking 😉
When Zoe turned one, I did actually just ask her grandparents to give her money, which I put into her college savings account.
As the youngest of four children (and the youngest of three girls), she had everything she could POSSIBLY want or need at that stage of her life, and she was too young to even care about gifts.
I think the book idea is a great one! My mom likes to give sensible gifts and she often opts for books.
Is there an experience the grandparents could gift HP? A membership to some local attraction?
Back when my kids were training gerber had padded underpants which can hold one small pee. They were helpful during the training process. You can also get big boy underpants with plastic covers, though we found these less helpful. We also found it helpful to put a potty in the kitchen in addition to the two bathrooms. He could hang out with us while we were doing things in the kitchen.
For books, we still haven’t handed down our sandra boyntons or Dr. Seuss. You can also get started on a collection of easy readers for early phonics. We’ve given ours away, but we liked too many dogs, and there was another about dogs and another about a cat wanting a snack.
Oh, and you must get where is my potty. Poor Susie sue, she has something very important to do.
There are a couple potty books for you too but I’ll have to dig up our post.
Oh, please dig up your post. In fact, I’m going to zip by your blog and see if I can find it!
Here it is from 2011: https://nicoleandmaggie.wordpress.com/2011/07/20/the-potty-training-post/
The links no longer work (so no affiliate bucks for us)! But the books are still in print and other people have found them useful more recently (including DC2 who didn’t exist in 2011…)
Books for adults:
I definitely stick by recommending Diaper-free before three if you are organized (one of my colleagues who is great with schedules did it with her son pretty recently) or just as a read if you want to know the science behind potty training.
And I stick by The Diaper Free baby if you are more… go with the flow… this is the method we used with both of our kids, though you’ll want to start in the “for older children” part of the book (older children are like older than 6 months or something). It’s just a really relaxed philosophy that makes potty training not stressful, so long as you’re ok with cleaning up messes and potty training maybe taking a little longer than more scheduled methods.
There’s a lot of ways to potty train and trade-offs. That was kind of revelatory when we started the journey with our first– I’d thought it had to be the Brazelton “signs of readiness” way, but it turns out that way is actually one of the worst because the “signs” exactly coincide with rebellious stages.
Books for kids:
Have You Seen My Potty is hilariously funny and it’s really tricky in how it gets the kid to think that of course poor susie sue needs to find her potty that all the animals are so impressed with. It’s not preachy like most of the potty books out there, so there’s no reason for toddler rebellion against it. It’s about Susie Sue, not about the kid, and yet…
Everybody poops is also a classic. It’s pretty much just painted pictures of animals pooping.
Oh, we’ve also been successful asking for rain jackets, rain boots, beach towels, bathroom hand towels, umbrella, and bed linens.
I’m having a photo with everyone in my nephew’s extended family made into a puzzle for him. Since we are all spread across the country he will be able to “see” everyone each time he puts it together.
Is there a museum for small children where you live? Or maybe consider a gift that is out of season like goggles for the pool or gardening gear?
I just had our first child (first grandchild on my side) and my mom has already bought her 2 Christmas outfits!
Oh my gosh! I *love* the puzzle idea. That is so clever 😀 We already have a yearly children’s museum membership, but I was wondering if maybe asking for tickets to the zoo might be a good idea.
I’m sure you’re mom is in all of her glory. Congrats on your baby!
It’s tricky figuring out what people will be willing to give so you can nudge them towards something you’ll use.
We’ve had luck with next age toys – Duplo has been a big hit from age 1 to 4+ and it’s one of the few things that it’s worth having a bunch of so you can build “a school, mummy, with an airport attached” or “a farm that’s got a swimming pool and a slide” (blue tissue paper). Wooden train track also – don’t ask for the basic pieces from people who like to buy new but quirky weird bits like a drawbridge or tunnel.
My toddler loves scooters and he’s finally big enough so he’s getting one. Art supplies. A rain coat and boots and a magnifying glasses for nature walks. Yogurt drops. A few special baking and cutting tools to help cook. Reusable stickers. Stamps. And we are also asking for passes to indoor play places, the zoo, and the children’s museum. A table top art easel.
We moved far away from family so we are asking for small treats to open when we are home for Christmas (pouches are perfect!) and then to have anything bigger mailed to our house OR for one gift from everyone for a zoo pass. ??? people listen!
When my daughter was 2, all she wanted was “red chappy” (chapstick). The next year, not fully understanding Christmas/Santa, she asked for the same again, because in her mind, that’s what Santa brings. It’s changed a bit as she’s aged, but this year her Santa list includes items things other people would like (as in such and such for my cousin).
It sounds like your daughter is an absolute delight! 😀 How sweet that she is thinking of others! Merry Christmas to you and your family!