Each Christmas of S’s life until now, shopping for her Christmas presents has mostly involved me trawling through websites, thinking, oh she’d love that and buying it for her. She had little input. Last Christmas the only thing she wanted was a wind-up mermaid for her bath.

This year, she is five. She’s begun to notice TV advertising and what her friends are playing with – in a major way. Any time I let her have the TV on, she comes running to me every five minutes to ask if she can have one of whatever she’s seen on the screen. Half the time I don’t understand what she’s asking me, so I suggested to her that when an ad came on for something she liked the look of, she should pause the TV and come get me to take a look. Never do this. It’s a very bad idea. Now I end up being dragged into the living room several times in each ad break, to see anything and everything that’s caught her eye!

Now that Christmas is coming up, I’ve had to start paying more attention to her requests so that I can be sure of giving her a gift she wants to receive on Christmas morning! Here are some of the things she’s been requesting more often…

heelys

Apparently all of S’s friends have Heelys. And she really needs some too. Like, really needs. It’s a life and death thing, apparently. A desperate situation.

my-little-pony

Is there some sort of rule that every little girl, no matter what era they are born in, must covet My Little Pony? S is weirdly obsessed by them and knows all their names. I don’t think it matters what My Little Pony toy she gets; just that she gets one. Or two. Or several.

Minions

Nope, we’re not over the Minions thing yet. We already have Minions night lights; Minions bedding; Minions blankets; Minions pyjamas and clothes. But this is not enough; we need more Minions. All the Minions must be ours. I don’t actually mind this; I quite like Minions myself. 

musical-toys

S already has a keyboard with a microphone and a guitar. Yesterday I went upstairs and caught her with her camera propped up on the bed, recording her as she jammed on her guitar! So of course, although I’ll probably kick myself for it down the line, I’ve ordered this Superstar Music Set for her. She just loves to sing!

pj-masks-toys

S is obsessed by PJ Masks. Like, actually mad for them. We went to a PJ Masks Halloween party in half term, and that made it even worse! Now she needs the PJ Masks headquarters. And literally every single other thing on the planet bearing their masked little faces. Everything.

christmas-pyjamas

We have a tradition in our house that S gets to open one carefully selected (by me) present on Christmas eve. Coincidentally, every year this gift contains a pair of Christmas pyjamas. Last year’s were Minion ones (of course); this year’s… I’ve not decided on yet. But they are bound to be epic.

As well as this we have stocking fillers, selection boxes, and of course delicious treats from the Christmas market when it opens in town later this month.

I’ve barely even started my Christmas shopping yet; after taking time off work for the summer holidays and then for my operation, I think I’ll be needing a loan to afford even half of what S needs for Christmas this year!

Only another … how many years? Fifteen or so? Until the demands for every-single-expensive-thing-she-sees ease off a little? Perhaps I should skip the loan and sell some internal organs… 


Vicky Charles

Vicky is a single mother, writer and card reader.

2 Comments

Alan Herbert · 03/12/2017 at 05:13

You do realize that when she gets older the list might be shorter but the items on it are much more expensive. iPhone, laptop, bike,

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