Simple Joys

I love toddlers. I really do. They're old enough to understand and learn boundaries, but innocent enough to be pleased with/by little things. Everything is fresh and new to them, and their little hearts haven't given in to the cynicism that seems to infect us as grown-ups, particularly at this time of the year.

Little L's Christmas list, at this present time, is empty. There is literally nothing on it, because there isn't anything that she desperately wants to have. In many ways, I have to credit our "no TV" choice for this ignorant bliss; without the inundation of TV commercials hard-selling her on toys and brands for the holiday season, she is utterly unaware of the selection of "stuff" out there for kids her age. When we dared to face the crowds at Toys R Us yesterday, Little L wasn't even interested in browsing the aisles, save for one stop in the Fisher Price toys to play with some toys that she already owns. She was quite content to leave the store empty handed, which she also did a few weeks ago when we were there.

This, of course, makes buying for her an easy and also an impossibly hard task. Easy because she isn't picky, but difficult because she has zero appreciation for any particular brand. Okay, maybe the Little People toys and the Fisher Price ones would rock her world, and if ever we should acquire some Daniel Tiger goods, she might be over the moon. Maybe. But none of the Barbies or Littlest Pet Shop or American Girls or Dora or Fairies or Lego or Bubble Guppies (is that what they're called?) or any other product of Nickelodeon, Disney, PBS, Hasbro, Mattel, or anyone else will earn her favour at this point, because nobody has told Little L that she "needs" these toys. She got some hard Furby toys the other day with a fast food kids' meal, and we didn't even know it was a "thing" with a whole product line until I googled it. She calls the toys her pink and black owls. We assume that's what they are (See? We are clueless too!).

Yes indeed, we are loving this simple joy that she has, and we really hope and pray that things don't change for a long long time.

So what is Little L getting for Christmas? Shhhh.... Don't tell! ;)

- an indoor mini-trampoline with a safety bar

- a toy medical kit

- kids' paints

- a book set with one of those electronic reading pens

- a scratch-n-sniff book

- other books

- a toothbrush and toothpaste

... plus whatever her extended relatives got for her, of course!

If I had to lay bets, my money would be on the toothbrush being her favourite gift, since Little L loves to brush her teeth and eat toothpaste (mostly fluoride-free). Point is - I love that she finds joy in the little things, rather than in extravagant gifts or an abundance of toys.

Of course, for her birthday (and mine) I'm thinking of getting her a balance bike and helmet, plus an iPad mini. This is mostly because I still find my 5S screen too small for her to play some of the apps, and our current iPad is a bazillion pounds (or so it seems). The mini seems like a reasonable compromise, and frees the iPad for Hubbs to use.

Anyway, I digress. Little L doesn't care about presents, and finds greater joy playing with our fly swatter and a bath sheet than anything currently wrapped under the tree, and I couldn't be more proud!