For my daughter’s sixth birthday, we held a small party at one of those ‘pamper party’ places. You know, the ones where your child gets to wear a robe and ask questions like ‘will we be getting our moustaches and beards waxed today? That’s what mummy does at the salon'.
There was a dedicated time allocation for gift opening. It was a small group of six girls (and their mums). I watched from the sidelines with quiet anxiety, praying we wouldn’t get anything…less than ideal.
It was all looking pretty safe until I heard my daughter squeal with excitement;
“Look mummy!”
There it was. The skid mark on an otherwise excellently safe haul.
A colouring in pack made by….none other than…. Sharpie.
I’m not kidding. A children’s colouring in pack where all the colours are permanent markers.
Please don’t get me wrong and think I’m ungrateful. Not at all! Someone chose that for my daughter KNOWING she would love it, and they were right!
However, I have spent the last 3 months wrestling permanent markers from the jaws of our Lagotto Elvis (AKA the dog). A six year old isn’t always the best at remembering to put her things right away, and our puppy is as swift as I am at a buffet table.
We know children’s gift giving can be a nightmare. You don’t want to just buy some poorly made toy from a large chain store, especially when you know every other mum will be doing that. You also don’t want to have to sell your breastmilk on the black market just to be able to pay for whatever you decide on.
Here’s a list of some of our favourite gifts. The ones to make you the ‘cool’ mum and overall boost your child’s street cred.
There you have it. 4 simple gift giving ideas to make you the winner of the
present race.
