There is no order in my life; there is only chaos, and boxes, and dust. When oh when will it end. You can be frank with me if the answer is never.
I’m not even going to try to be orderly with the gift ideas; I am just going to post them one after another and then go pack another box.
I was going to unintentionally lie to you and tell you I bought these small French Bull bowls last year for myself after not getting them for Christmas, but right on the product page it says I bought them December 2nd so apparently I was impatient.
(image from Amazon.com)
I spent nearly $18 for them, and I thought that was a very silly price to pay for four little plastic bowls, but Paul and I each have our own little allowances for exactly this kind of purchase, and I am so glad I sprang for them because I use them ALL THE TIME. Furthermore, it’s been a year and I still get a little heart-leap every time I choose one from the stack. I have other perfectly good little plastic bowls but I always choose one of THESE. I meant to recommend them to you before but I’ve had them in my cart for months and months waiting for a good price and they’ve been in the Really Truly Unreasonable range, like $35 plus $6.99 shipping. Now they are hovering around $20, $21, $22, and that is in good Gift Territory. (I just ordered the four matching spreaders for myself. It’s ludicrous. When do I use little spreaders? But they have been making my heart leap for a YEAR in the Amazon cart, and it is TIME.)
My sister-in-law bought Paul a giant bar of Duke Cannon soap one Christmas and now he is spoiled and uses nothing else. I’m thinking of getting him this three-pack of new scents (these are the scents he’s been using):
(image from Amazon.com)
They are expensive but they are huge, and he does not have many things in his life I would categorize as Indulgences, whereas I am surrounded by French Bull bowls and deep-conditioning hair masques and forty different coffee mugs.
We are trying to decide if $50 is too much to spend for this Galton Board for one of our older boys (19 and 17):
(image from Amazon.com)
It’s really neat, and I saw a large one in a museum and found it hypnotizing for longer than I would have expected, and we are desperate for gift ideas for them, and they like stuff like this—but on the other hand, it’s kind of a one-trick pony.
I am planning to get lenticular playing cards for all three littler kids (13, 13, and 11):
(image from Amazon.com)
The main problem is deciding who gets the cat ones, since those will be the favorite. I’m also considering dogs and motion and birds. (There are also dinosaurs, which makes me a little sad because it wasn’t so long ago that those would have been the obvious choice for Henry, and that was such a fun stage but it has passed.) Maybe I will wrap three different decks and then give them randomly. Or maybe I will instead buy three packs of cat cards. Or maybe I will freeze with indecision and not order any after all.
I can’t tell you why Edward (13) wants this Otamatone so much, but he does, and my parents are giving him one:
(image from Amazon.com)
You can search “Otamatone” on YouTube to see how ridiculous these are. I am glad we are moving to a larger house, so that I can send Edward and this toy to the other end of it.
I’ve mentioned this shower radio before, but I continue to love mine and listen to it every morning, and it would be a nice gift for someone who doesn’t really need much or have room for much:
(image from Amazon.com)
Getting ready in the morning is SO BORING, and this makes it somewhat less boring.
William (17) loves Taco Bell Fire Sauce, and I have searched all our local stores and can only find bottles of Mild and occasionally Hot, but the Fire is available online so I ordered him a couple of three-packs of it for Christmas.
(image from Walmart.com)
I ordered Adam Ruins Everything for Rob (19):
(image from Amazon.com)
Have you seen his videos around Facebook or Twitter? I love them. They’re like Snopes, but videos.
I ordered Manifold: The Origami Mindbender for William.
(image from Amazon.com)
He likes origami, he likes puzzles, it seems like a good fit.
I’m not saying bowl covers are the hottest gift, but I’m getting a pack of them for Paul’s stocking now that they’re back under $5 (for awhile they were around $20, which, what?).
(image from Amazon.com)
He uses them all the time, and I like this retro pattern. I should warn you that the smallest ones in the set are REALLY SMALL, like shower caps for dolls. Hey, gift idea if your kids have dolls!
William had The Little Book of Thunks on his wish list so we bought it.
(image from Amazon.com)
Henry (11) had Island of Fire on his wish list (it’s book 3 of The Unwanteds series; he got book 1 and book 2 on previous occasions), so I bought it and also book 4 because it was on a good price (the hardcover was only a couple of dollars more than the paperback); if I end up with too much stuff for him for Christmas, I’ll give him book 4 for his birthday.
(image from Amazon.com)
Edward and Henry both wanted the new Diary of a Wimpy Kid book, so I got it.
(image from Amazon.com)
Basically if there is a book on a child’s list, I will buy it. Oh, speaking of books, I just got this from the library, and it’s a little too soon to call it but so far it seems like a GREAT gift book:
(image from Amazon.com)
What We Keep: 150 People Share the One Object that Brings Them Joy, Magic, and Meaning, by Bill Shapiro and Naomi Wax. Nice hardcover, illustrated with photos, good general-interest topic.
We’re getting The Indispensable Composers for Rob, who likes classical music and has Opinions about composers. At worst, he can scoff at how wrong the book is; at best, he will love it.
(image from Amazon.com)
We also got him The White Box: A Game Design Workshop in a Box, suggested by commenter Slim after the post about how impossible Rob is to buy for. This looks like exactly his kind of thing.
(image from Amazon.com)
Okay, back to the packing that will never be finished.
Glad to know about the Otamatone! That looks fun! And irritating. But, a good Santa gift in my house, so thanks!!
My son has an Otamatone! He loves it and yes, it is kind of irritating – good to play with in another room.
Forget putting this list in any order…this is by far the most helpful gift guide I’ve seen! I feel like so many others are thinking more about how the pictures of the items looked laid out for instagram rather than what people actually want or would like. Especially helpful for shopping for my nephews. Thank you!! Just bought a few things off the list already!
It ends! It will end soon, in fact. Just when you think you cannot take another day, it will end about 3 days after that. I just saw a “one year ago” memory for myself on Facebook that said “I only cried twice today and I slept nearly all night” which was a big improvement and probably shined up for Facebook; that that was a week after our move. And now a year later I rarely think of it and am genuinely glad we moved.
Thanks for taking a moment out of the hair pulling and dust to help us with gift ideas. I thought my kids were the only ones that spent hours a day imagining what the cat was thinking. The cat news book is going to BLOW THEIR MINDS. :) Love and hugs and strength and fortitude!
I wish I could come help you pack!!
I love these ideas. I, too, am such a sucker for books, that I have about 20 to give to each child and that’s way too many. :(
I WISH IT TOO!!
As I purchase too many books, I think how nice it would be to have so many in an apocalyptic situation!
I’ve made it a tradition to give my two nieces books for Christmas, ever since they were babies (9 and 10 now). They have birthdays in early December and mid-January, so they get toys from me then, but Christmas is and always will be a box of books for each of them (and a Christmas ornament with their name and the year sharpied on as a tag, since my grandma did that for my brother and I growing up and I still love to look at them all).
OMG the white box is the perfect gift for my husband!! I’m so excited, because I haven’t had ANY good gift ideas for him. He loves tabletop games and is always talking about ideas he has, reviewing other games, discussing design strategy…this is so perfect. I just ordered it and now I am suddenly looking forward to Christmas morning a lot more. Thank you for posting!!
I love your gift lists! I already got the art pens from another list for my 10yo daughter. She is so hard to buy for and so hard to wow. She was trying to steer me toward a smaller set, but I’d already ordered the Chameleon set, so I didn’t show a lot of interest. Pretty sure that one will surprise her. Also, we had a gift exchange at Thanksgiving (my sister lives far away and my mom wants us together for present opening, but believes kids should wake up on Christmas in their own home) and I noticed her enviously eyeing her cousins’ footie pajamas. Good thing I also already got some of those for her.
My boss loves the fire sauce and always asks for extra packets. A whole bottle would be a great gift for her. I didn’t realize they sold it like that.
I am so glad you found some good options for Rob!
And the packing WILL end, I promise! I have it on good authority that cocktails and Christmas carols help make it easier.
The packing WILL end…but it will feel like an eternity (sorry!). And then you will be on the other end and eventually, kinda forget the agony. But be prepared, if you are anything like me, three years will go by and one day you will realize you still have a few boxes that haven’t been unpacked. Take it from me, odds are good you can just send those boxes to Goodwill without even opening them.
I’ve moved between Thanksgiving and Christmas once – I feel your pain. Sending you lots of virtual hugs and wine!
I don’t know if it’s the size of that photo, or my tired brain, but it took me waaaay too long to figure out what a bowl cover is. Legit thought it was a fancy decoration for boring coloured bowls. Not my smartest moment.
When I started reading your blog, you were managing 5 children, including three children under the age of 2 (if memory serves). Chaos ain’t got nothin’ on you. ;) You got this. And this will end. Soon it will be a vague memory. Bonus? You’ll probably never move again/have to do this again. (And if you do you’ll be so old your kids will do all the work.)
Just a quick vouch for the Manifold origami. My 12yo and husband both love it. Also nice to just take one or two sheets in your pocket to do when waiting/bored.
Oh! Also wanted to recommend the dice game Tenzi. Everyone in my extended family loves it. Fun, fast, tons of variations, little skill required but keeps you on your toes. I’d even recommend it for Rob. It takes up very little space.
Oh unpacking. Such misery. We packed up our kitchen for our addition renovation last year. I just found the box with the rolling pin and stuff in the storage room. We were using the kitchen last year, but not to the point of rolling out dough. The things you will misplace and then find. Sigh. Good luck!
I bought my 12 year old virtual ping pong last year. It seemed like such a good idea at the time. I hate to spend money on a gift like that and then have it only used for the ever-so-important Christmas break. Ever since then, nothing. Grrr.
I am thinking about mastermind for him now. He is my hardest to buy for. It is the age. I remember it from the older boys.
Thank you for these suggestions – I am mostly done with Hanukkah shopping but I stored some of these away for the next birthday.
Have you ever seen these bowl covers?:
https://www.amazon.com/CHARLES-VIANCIN-Watermelon-Silicone-Each/dp/B06XH7DRFF/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1543612786&sr=8-1&keywords=charles+viancin+silicone+lids+watermelon
That’s just one style, there are kiwis and flowers and such. I think they are super cute and often give them as gifts – feels like a, too much to spend for yourself for what it is, but perfect for a gift thing.
I got an otamatone in a secret santa exchange a couple years ago. It was amusing for about 5 minutes, and then I never touched it again and eventually gave it to goodwill, I think.
I have a question about the giant soaps. Where do you put them / what do you set them down on in the shower? ie is there some kind of giant soap DISH that fits them? I see they sell a scrubber pouch for the bars — does everyone just use that?
We have a rack that goes over the shower head. It has room for shampoo bottles and stuff, but also has a shelf at the bottom to hold bars of soap.
Ohh, we are moving in the spring (I hope!) and I dread it so badly.
On the gift front, some friends of ours have Colorku, https://smile.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=colorku
and I love it when we visit. It looks nice sitting out and both kids and grown-ups will gravitate towards it and work on it while chatting over coffee or whatever.
Shower caps for dolls! I’m still chuckling.