Christmas lists

Before I had kids, I believed in nurture over nature.  Now that I have kids, I think there's a lot to be said for nature.  I have two very different kids, with very strong personalities.  It's sort of reflected in how they play, or in their Christmas lists.

Yes.  He is naked AND playing the ipad.

Not that Liam has a Christmas list, but my Christmas list for him is made of the stuff I know he likes.  John and I have not raised him to be a "boy" as in we gave him cars and trucks and sports or anything different from what we gave Lilia.  But those are the things he gravitated to.  He loves Thomas the Tank, cars (anything he can push along- trucks, cars, wagons), balls, and video games.  He loves video games.  And by love, I mean he wants to play them all the time.

I'm not opposed to kids playing video games, just kids plying violent games and games inappropriate to their age.  We found this stupid like Super Rub-a-Dub game for the PS3, and Liam loves it.  We let him play it after he washes his hair as a reward, and it's like the best thing in the world.  He's even unlocked some of the extra ducks on his own.  And we won't get into how much he loves my ipad, and how he navigates the thing better than I do.

Lilia, the Queen!

Lilia, on the other hand, is pretty neutral.  I think I'd best describe her as Sporty Princess.  She'd play any sport in a pink jersey and tiara if she could.  She has a very definitive Christmas list that makes me laugh.  She informed me that she wanted an angry bird, Mario, Spencer and Diesel (from Thomas and Friends), a Doll house (sort of weird, since she has a doll house but maybe she meant stuff for her doll house), a kitchen (again, she has one, and even told me she wanted a new one and a dog.  I think she wanted a real dog, but John said no way.

She likes Angry Birds and other video games, but she doesn't have the patience that Liam does for them.  She likes playing cars and trains with him, which is great (kids getting along! Yay!) but she's also got a small nurture side- she plays with her dolls, she pretends to be a doctor or a vet and she loves to dress up as a "princess".

I think the best thing about my kids Christmas list this year is how interchangeable it is.  I don't think there's a single thing that can't be used for both kids, and in fact, I've grabbed quite a few things that are "doubles" so they don't fight over it.  And, I can do a few handmade things since my kids don't really care about brands or labels.  Sure, they like Mario- but Mario can look like this.  Or Angry Birds.  (Yep, I am trying to learn to crochet...)

Christmas time is so exciting!