What do people do when they don’t have blogs where they can post their Big Upsetting Things and have other people kindly and efficiently dispose of all the upset feelings? When I compare the way I would have felt this morning with the way I DO feel this morning, I can hardly believe it. Really, thank you so much for talking me down. The whole comments section gave me excessive eye-watering.
Well! I suggest we talk about PRESENTS. I was worried to discuss them before Christmas, because I don’t really know if the children snoop my blog or not—PROBABLY not, but MAYBE. Also, in some years I’ve had a lot of fun doing gift posts, and this year for whatever reason it just didn’t seem fun, and also I put off the gift-buying later than usual. But NOW it seems fun. And I’ll tag them as gift ideas, and then maybe later I’ll get around to…organizing them…somehow…so they can be used in later years. Let’s not think about that right now.
Today I will work on Elizabeth’s presents, because I am most in the mood to talk about those. This year Elizabeth developed a sudden and surprising interest in walruses in addition to her abiding interest in cats, so you will notice a certain THEME to her gifts.
(image from Amazon.com)
Melissa and Doug Plush Walrus. When Elizabeth first discovered this gigantic walrus (30 inches nose to back flipper), I told her it was out of the question. First, I said, 30 inches was not as big as she was picturing (she wanted to use him as a backrest). Second, he cost over $100 on Amazon, plus more for shipping, plus he had a red warning that said he might not arrive in time for Christmas. Third, she has a tiny bedroom that is already PACK-CRAMMED with stuffed animals. No: too expensive, too risky, too big, not big enough, too many stuffed animals already. No.
Which is why it was so much fun to surprise her with it. I found another one for $65 with free shipping guaranteed in time for Christmas. I emailed Paul about it first: Are we seriously going to add a(nother) giant stuffed animal to the house. “Yes,” he replied. It is the hit of Christmas, and so soft and snuggly, and cuter than it looked in its picture. She has been carrying it with her everywhere, and it is definitely big enough to be a backrest.
This, by the way, is the best ever walrus for a REGULAR-sized walrus: Wild Republic Cuddlekins Walrus. I bought one a couple of years ago for Henry and kept snuggling it myself. If I can’t find it soon (WHERE COULD IT BE? could I have gotten rid of it in a fit of purge-cleaning?), I’m going to have to buy another.
(image from Amazon.com)
Cats in Sweaters calendar. I am a little annoyed to see it is now half off, but it also says it is “temporarily out of stock,” and in my past experience with Amazon and “temporarily out of stock” calendars, that means several emails in January asking me to confirm I still want it, and then an email in February apologizing that the order has to be canceled. We also got her a cat sweater from Gymboree, which I would link to but it’s no longer on their site.
(image from SewingSeed on Etsy.com)
Walrus Cross-stitch Kit. My sister-in-law really rose to the walrus challenge, and she’s the one who found and bought this for Elizabeth. It has started a cross-stitch craze at our house. William: “Cross-stitch is like PIXELS!” Today I have agreed to take them to the store, where I believe we will be buying one each of every single embroidery floss color available.
(image from Amazon.com)
Walrus books! She’d gotten a bunch from the library, but was saying she wished they were HERS and she could KEEP them. I chose Walruses of the Arctic, Walruses, and a used copy of Nature’s Children: Walrus (which has a much nicer cover than the stand-in shown in the listing, but our copy was Walrus AND Hawk, which was a little odd/disappointing).
(image from Amazon.com)
Webkinz orca. One of the reasons I put off gift-buying rather late this year is that I wanted to avoid buying things in September that they would no longer want in December. I mostly succeeded—but I bought this in September on a good sale when she was on a Webkinz whale craze and wanted an orca; by the time I gave it to her at Christmas, whales AND Webkinz were yesterday’s news. Oh well. Five dollars.
Poster-size photo collage of her cat. This cat is her dearest love. I believe if she could save only one family member, it would be this cat. SHE READS STORIES TO IT. Anyway, I chose a bunch of pictures of the cat and made a 20×30 poster photo collage on Snapfish. It was supposed to cost over $20 plus shipping, but during checkout there was a pop-up window that offered me 60% off, so I got it for $8-something plus shipping.
(image from Amazon.com)
Subscription to Cat Fancy. This was from my parents, along with a cat harness/leash because she wants to train her cat to go on walks with her. She doesn’t read the articles, she just likes the pictures. She cuts them out and puts them up all over her room. There’s also a monthly centerfold poster.
More on gifts later. Probably.
I would like to be updated on the cat walking.
Yes! We definitely will need an update on that.
My daughter is almost 9 and this year she asked for things like gift certificates for cooking lessons (Indian food, specifically) and green hair dye. In other words, no toys. Despite the fact she pretty much got everything she asked for, I felt kind of bad for her when her brother was happily ensconced with Skylanders Trap Team for the hour before we were heading to their grandparents, and she realized she had nothing to actually play with to pass the time.
I cannot wait to read Elizabeth’s memoir in 30 years . . .
You did so well! I bet she was super excited.
I wish my kids would participate in something like a ‘cross stitch craze.’ Delightfully nerdy! All my kids do is watch Ponies and play with Legos. Nerdy, but of the more mainstream variety.
The cat poster is the best idea ever! I would have loved one of my dog when I was her age. Albeit that was 1971, so custom cat posters had not yet been invented, at least not for the average person.
Me too! The poster was such a great idea, I would have absolutely loved to get something like that when I was a child. Great idea!
Oh, goodness. Nine seems like an ideal age, just based on the presents alone.
I am still chuckling about the cat centerfold. I’m sure you can guess the kind of image that popped into my head..
Yes, I certainly want to hear how the cat walking goes. Along with pictures! I imagine the cat will NOT be happy.
Cross-stiching – I haven’t thought of (or done) it in years! And yes, Henry’s right; it is like pixels!
My son desperately wants a subscription to Cat Fancy. I should have done that for Christmas. I didn’t think of it at the time.
I know what you mean about buying the gifts too early. Yesterday’s news, indeed.
I wanted to introduce my nearly 7yo daughter to cross-stitching or needlework this year too. I found some kid-targeted needlework kits (Sew Cute brand) but failed to read Amazon reviews – went to Michael’s and just grabbed them – and they’re awful. The paint on the canvas flakes right off (great job, SANTA).
I love the cat sweater!!
Cross stitch is like pixels! Yes!
Haha! My grandma used to get me subscriptions to cat fancy. That sure brigs me back! Love the giant walrus. That looks like a great pregnancy back pillow!
I AM SO PLEASED.
“Rose to the walrus challenge”: I know it doesn’t quite make sense, but I can’t help picturing an underwater walrus rising to the surface, where there’s, like, a prize.