stumped.

We heard an ad on the radio the other day that started with the line "You know what's better than getting exactly what you wished for this season? Getting more than you wished for." Gosh I hope that's never my attitude. Christmas can bring out the greediness in all of us, if we're not careful. Especially children. I don't want my sons to grow up expecting to receive a long list of stuff they'll have gotten bored with or forgotten about by the following year.  I also don't want the true meaning of Christmas - celebrating the birth of Christ - to get lost in the fog of what's under the tree.

BUT -  I still love the excitement and joy of giving and receiving thoughtful gifts. I'm always more excited about the stockings than I am the bigger presents - perhaps because they hold so much mystery - and I still fall asleep with giddy anticipation on Christmas Eve night. That's why I'm particularly excited for this year, because it truly marks the beginning of making the holiday special for a little someone named Jack. This includes picking out a couple fun gifts. The problem is, I'm still stumped on what to get him. So far, I found one of my favorite Christmas books on sale and that's as far as I've gotten. I'd also like to get him something to play with. My two main concerns are (i) the price (ii) the probability that he'll actually play with it more than twice. Of course, the little brother I'm about to give birth to pretty much equals COVERS.ALL.BASES... but since he won't be arriving till after Christmas, here are some of my other ideas:

Melissa & Doug Wooden Blocks

I've had my eye on these for months and they received great reviews on Amazon 

but they're also $45.04 which is double what I'm wanting to spend.

Educo Kitchen Playset

I know there's tons of ways to build your own DIY kids kitchens but I'm just not that handy. This is another gift I can't afford even though its on sale for $83.03. But I love it, especially since it's so compact and because it's made out of wood, not plastic. I'm hoping that maybe, just maybe, it'll go down in price on Black Friday.

Melissa & Doug Cutting Food Box

This is the most affordable idea so far at $15.91. There's a ton of different varieties of play food sets to choose from, but I especially like the ones where you can "slice" the food. I like the Melissa and Doug brand (again, because most of their toys are made from wood) and this was one of the highest rated sets. The only thing I don't like is that it comes in a crate rather than a basket, since that'll be harder for him to carry around. 

Jack will be 18 months in December, an age that is still sort of "in between" when it comes to enjoying toys but not quite being able to pretend play or spend more than 10-15 mins at a time focusing on an activity. So, it's really inconsequential what I choose. Whatever it is, I hope my boys grow up with the same excitement each year for the Christmas season, whether we're "well fed or poor," and that they learn the importance of treasuring all that we have to give thanks for.

Especially the birth of Jesus.