It seems I have a habit of posting about the kids Christmas gifts as a way for me to keep a family record, so why give up now (even though I barely post here any more)? I’m a sucker for year-to-year comparisons (2015 here, 2014 here, 2013 here… there are posts from 2011 and 2010, too but all the links and photos are broken); and I do love seeing what other people buy their kids.

To refresh we do “want/need/wear/read” as general gift categories, plus gifts from siblings.

Matilda, age 10 (4th grade) – this age is SUPER hard… still wants some toys but also wants clothes and more expensive items.

Want: She is forever checking out all the clothing every time we are at any department store. So, she has been wanting this dress for months. I happened to score it on clearance a few weeks ago and I know she’ll be thrilled.

Girls’ Crochet Peasant – Xhilaration

Need: She is in desperate need of new swim suits for swim team practice. And since I’m too cheap to buy an official team suit, she also wanted a better meet suit (this is the first year she’s cared that she doesn’t have an all-black suit for meets). So, I hit the cybermonday SwimOutlet.com sale and got a practice suit, a meet suit and several pairs of goggles (see stocking) for less than the cost of a single official team suit. Boring but necessary.

Wear: We are officially in the age of Justice. I have mixed feelings about this. But I let her create a wishlist on the site and got her some of the leggings she wants. Then I went to Target and got some of their fleece-lined Cat & Jack ones, too. Because all of her pants and leggings are suddenly about 3 inches too short. Between this and what she’s getting from grandparents she’ll be set with a weeks worth of pants now.

Radiant print 4-way stretch legging

Read: She wants ALL THE BOOKS. But I narrowed it down to just a few. Raina Telgemeier is still one of her favorite authors so she’s getting Ghosts and Drama (although I think she’s read Ghost at school already – doesn’t matter as she will read Telgemeier books over and over). She’s also getting Sunny Side Up by Jennifer Holm.

From Madman: Matilda, at age 10, is suddenly obsessed with Shopkins. I thought we had successfully cleared the age of tiny toys, but no. He is getting her 2 packs of these ridiculous things that will be quickly lost.

Stocking: Goggles plus bungee straps (you can never have enough goggles when you lose them all the time), a bunch of lip gloss/balm (there were a ton of BabyLips on clearance at our drug store), a travel Spirograph, and chocolates.

Madman, age 6.5 (1st grade)

Want: LEGO Star Wars Special Forces Tie Fighter. More LEGO is always on his list, add in Star Wars and you have a winner. He’s been asking for this for months!

Need: I wasn’t sure what to get for this category but then last week his lunchbox started to fall apart. New lunchbox it is! Bonus that I already had a credit at LLBean.

LLBean Lunch Box

Wear: I’ve been picking up a few tees when I find them on sale. A good thing since all the long-sleeve tees I pulled out of storage are way too small. I think there are 4-5 shirts plus 2 more pair of the Cat & Jack reinforced-knee pants.

Read: He loves FlyGuy books and anything Star Wars or Pokémon, so he’s getting a variety of those options. (Side note: my sister got him the Pokémon Deluxe Essential Handbook and I know it will be his favorite as he’s been begging for it since his school’s book fair).

From Matilda: More LEGO!

Stocking: Goggles, Pokémon cards, Shrinky Dinks, superhero band-aids, and chocolates.