My stepdaughter used to watch Sarah and Duck when she was little. And I continued to watch it as one of my background sounds and a way to relax. I was devastated when Netflix removed it. More recently, my stepdaughter was talking about childish things. She accidentally wore a Doc McStuffins set of sunglasses, which was a social NO NO. She hid them the second she realized the theme of the sunglasses. (It was sunglasses day at school apparently.) Sarah and Duck would definitely fit in that category, but most American kids don’t know the show.
Mostly thinking about it because her birthday is EXACTLY in one month. I’m trying to help my SO with this one. Her actual birthday is falling on one of the days that we have her. We’re sending cupcakes from the store since you can’t actually bake them yourself. (Allergies and all that jazz.) I wanted to do a countdown sort of idea for her birthday presents, but it’s just not looking affordable. Too many things to detail out, but my SO has to shoulder most of the stuff this year.
And December birthdays always seem to have it so hard. There’s a holiday happening that month, yes, but that doesn’t make the birthday celebration any less exciting. Just makes the list making a bit easier. Especially since she still seems to believe in Santa Claus, so we’ll have to juggle the big present along with making sure she gets something nice from our side of the family.
I think I’m in the minority when I think we should normalize having Santa Claus giving a mid-range gift and leave the big present to mom/dad/family? It makes it hard when the kiddo is like, “I’ll ask Santa for a new gaming rig!” Also makes it strange when you talk about it with other children at school. Santa gave So-&-So an expensive skateboard, but Poor-Out-of-Luck only got a barbie.
Stepdaughter requested shinies and fidgets this year. Concensus from my SO is that he wants her to have a stocking full of fidget toys. I love watching the Tik Tok and I’ve seen Mrs. Bench’s store. I am biased towards all the QUIET fidget toys.
For the shiny side of things, I’m thinking about getting her jewelry. We don’t want my stepdaughter to have any piercings yet. She’s still at that age where she can’t remember to take care of herself well so we don’t believe she could care for her ears if they were pierced. I.E. She has to be reminded to put on deodorant daily. She has to be checked to make sure she is brushing her teeth and not just wetting the toothbrush.
So in this case, adjustable rings, necklaces, and maybe ear cuffs. Pretty shiny things and maybe upgrade her to a cuter jewelry box. Her current one is a tiny Hello Kitty, which I think it adorable, but she considers it “little kiddish”. I don’t really think she likes Hello Kitty. It was more of something that was projected on her when she was smaller.
I’ve made a small Amazon Wishlist for her birthday. Since I’m not working right now due to everything, I’ve suggested to my SO that I take her to the local “Asian” store to help her pick out some “Japanese” candy. She really wants to learn Japanese, go to Tokyo, and see everything Pokemon related.
Her original Christmas request was a Gameboy Advance and one of the original Pokemon games to go with it along with a Game Shark to cheat in some things. Which is … way more expensive than we can afford right now.
That’s something we’ll probably put on the back burner for when she’s a bit older. Since a refurbished handheld system is something I’d be really worried about getting damaged. (Her 3DS has been broken for awhile.)
Someone that’s more experienced than me. Is this normal for 10-year-olds? Haha, I feel like 10-year-olds now versus when I was that age have really changed. I mean, it’s definitely a different era, but it feels vastly different.
Atelier Whootique 