Tomorrow we are off to see Santa Claus. The children are very excited and have been talking about our Christmas wish list for the past several days.
GigglyGirl wants 2 American Girl dolls: Kit and Ruthie. She has gone back to the catalog page with these dolls over and over and over for the past few weeks. This is the first time she has asked for a doll with hair rather than a bald baby doll. Well, if you do not have girls or if you do and you live in a vacuum somewhere, you might not realize what a big deal it is to purchase both dolls at the same time. For a mere $205 (that’s right! two-hundred and five dollars) you can purchase both dolls plus accessories (2 handkerchiefs and 2 books, ooh!), which is a savings of (drumroll please): fifteen whole dollars. These dolls must have gold in them somewhere or at the very least the company has struck it rich by producing these dolls.
So, I told GigglyGirl that it was $205 and she might not be able to get both dolls at Christmas because that is a lot of money. Oh, to have the faith of a child! She looks up at me with her big, brown eyes and says, “That’s okay, Mommy. Santa Claus makes toys and he does not have to pay money for them.”
Starting last year, we only let them ask for 3 items for Christmas. A couple of my friends taught me this (thanks Janet and Lori). Their theory is that if 3 gifts were good enough for baby Jesus then three gifts is more than good enough for their children. Last year, GigglyGirl grouped two of her items together as 1 gift (a GroovyGirl doll and a unicorn). When I printed her wish list, it has those two items with a single box around them and the other two items with a box around each. She did not ask for very much and since it was 2 Groovy Girl items I let it count as 1 gift.
Today, as I was creating the Christmas Wish List, GigglyGirl asked me if she could put the American Girl dolls (Kit and Ruthie) together in 1 box and still ask for 2 more gifts. There was a resounding and firm “No” in response to that request from both Mr. Right and me. So, she is asking for the 2 American Girl dolls and 1 mermaid Barbie doll.
BusyBoy is asking for 2 different racecar sets and a remote control dinosaur, which Fisher Price is very proud of if price is any indication.
I told them that just because it is on the list does not mean that they will actually receive it but they are allowed to ask for it. We’ll see what Santa is able to make since he does not have to pay for any toys.
4 responses so far ↓
1 Evil Twin's Wife // Nov 23, 2008 at 7:44 pm
When my son was little, he said something similar and I said, “No, Santa has loads of kids to buy for.”
We do the same thing here: They’re allowed to ask for three things from us and three things from Santa. My son, who is now 10, has asked for maybe 4 things so far. My daughter (almost 3) will be happy with anything.
Evil Twin’s Wifes last blog post..Make Over – Updated
2 Mrs. Santa Claus // Nov 23, 2008 at 7:51 pm
Perhaps you could reason with your daughter in the following way:
Santa makes toys and doesn’t pay $$ for them.
But these dolls are very expensive so most mommies and daddies can’t afford them. For this reason Santa gets a LOT of requests for them. There are so many requests that sometimes he cannot make as many dolls as there are requests and so it might be that in order to be fair to all of the children who want one, it might have to be “one to a Customer” this year. Thus it might be a good idea to look at the dolls and tell Santa which one you would MOST like to have in the event that he can only give you one.
My husband in a previous life was a Mall Santa and Santa must have the wisdom of Solomon and be able to pull it out on a moment’s notice to save a frantic parent! Never promise what mom and dad can’t deliver!
3 jenuinejen // Nov 23, 2008 at 8:42 pm
@Evil Twin’s Wife, It is funny for them to ask for such specific toys this year. Last year they wanted toys but a doll was a doll was a doll. This year with such specific requests it is new for us.
I like your family’s tradition of 3 gifts from Santa and 3 gifts from family. We still give the children gifts but so far have limited their requests to 3 gifts. My husband and I have purchased a few things throughout the fall to give them to unwrap under the tree. Most of these are toys and books from consignment sales. I’ll have to remember your tradition for years to come.
4 jenuinejen // Nov 23, 2008 at 8:44 pm
@Mrs. Claus,
Thank you so much for the suggestion of how to reason with my daughter about the request for 2 dolls. I will use this and I LOVE it! Of course, being Mrs. Claus you would know these answers!
The mall Santa from my childhood died 2 1/2 years ago. He was a saint and a loving, gentle man. I can only imagine how much on-the-spot wisdom one must to do that job.
Thanks for the suggestion and for stopping by my blog!
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