Well, we survived the November rush into Black Friday which seemed to begin back in October, the actual day of Black Friday, Shop Small Saturday, and Cyber Monday. Oh-my-goodness. Remember when stores used to open at midnight on Black Friday and we all thought that was just crazy? Well, I honestly wish we could go back to that. Because this nonstop shopping, never knowing if it’s truly “the best sale of the year” is just totally overwhelming and ridiculous.
I know most people have stopped venturing out on Black Friday, and opt for shopping online if at all, but it’s still my most favorite day to go out and buy stuff. Maybe it’s because I never go out and shop — I always choose curbside pickup because with four kids, it’s just not practical for me to leave my car. So, I enjoy making a big deal about it! I love checking when stores open and making a departure plan with my mom, and looking at who has the best deals, and price checking the items in the middle of the aisle, and questioning why we’re even out and about anyway. I love every minute of it.
We ended up shopping for over 9 hours on Black Friday and went everywhere from big box stores to independently owned small toy stores (who had the best deals, by the way) and maybe it’s because I’m nosy, but I always like to know what someone actually buys their kids. There’s a lot of wishlists and gift guides out there, but not many people just share what they really went out and spent their money on. So here it is. Here is what I actually bought my three oldest kids. (I’ll share what I got Walker in a different post when I talk about stocking stuffers, because most of what I got him falls into that category… he’s the 4th after all. He needs… nothing.)
A few things to keep in mind: everything I bought was on sale (literally, everything), most of these links are Amazon links from my storefront because it’s the easiest way to share links but Amazon isn’t necessarily where I bought the item. Also, the links in this post are affiliate links which means if you make a purchase through my links, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
What I actually bought my NINE year old:
Mindware Gearjits, Movie Projector / Glow In The Dark Basketball / Mega Cyborg Hand / LEGO Harry Potter, Hagrid’s Hut / Rock’em Sock’em Robots / Qwirkle / Shutterfly Book 2023 Year in Review
Javi loves building things, LEGO, and Pokemon. I have 3 packs of Pokemon cards for him so I think that alone will make his Christmas. But he’s also working on collecting all the Harry Potter LEGO sets, he mentioned we needed new games in our game cabinet, and basketball season is starting so I thought the glow in the dark basketball would be fun for him. I think I’m done with him and won’t add anything else to this lot.
What I actually bought my SIX year old:
American Girl Doll of the Year, Summer / AG accessories / Latch Hook Kit, Strawberry Pillow / Our Generation, Living Room Set / An Outfit / Shutterfly Book 2023 Year in Review
Lola circled the entire American Girl catalog. Literally, there were two pages in the catalog that didn’t have marks on them and it was just because she owns all the Wellie Wishers already. So, she’s getting an American Girl Doll Christmas. Other than the Latch Hook Kit which she also asked for, an outfit she wanted but I couldn’t find a picture of, and her Shutterfly book, her whole Christmas is doll-themed. Part of me is worried about it even though… it’s all she plays with every single day. But… her birthday is two days after Christmas so I’m planning on mixing up those gifts and making them less doll focused. Or once I figure out what I’m getting her for her birthday, I might swap out some of the doll stuff to make her gifts more well-rounded! Stay tuned…
What I actually bought my FIVE year old:
MAGNA-TILES, Castle Construction Set / Shimmery Fairy Puzzle / American Girl, Collector’s Doll / Mindware Skippity / Melissa and Doug, Super Smile Dentist Kit / Gund Teddy Bear / Shutterfly Book 2023 Year in Review
The only thing harder than having a child with a birthday two days after Christmas… is having a child whose birthday is a month before Christmas. You end up scrounging for gifts because you already gave them everything they wanted (or you wanted them to have) for their birthday! But I think Eva’s gifts are a good mix of her likes and wants! I will probably end up buying her one more gift (and I think it’ll be the dough pasta maker from KiwiCo.) Sean likes everyone to have the same number of gifts and right now she’s one behind. 🙂
Need more ideas? Here’s last year’s post!
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