Hit and Miss Christmas Gifts

With a 4 1/2 year old who is fairly picky with her toys and a 5 1/2 year old who is both physically and mentally disabled, choosing Christmas gifts can be “hit” or “miss” in our house. Here are some thoughts on Santa’s choices this year:

HITS

Fisher Price BOY Little Mommy Baby Knows Interactive Doll – Nana & Papa bought this doll for Jaden and she LOVES it. She is constantly giving it audible kisses. The doll will tell you his ABCs, play games, name his toes, tummy, mouth, and ears.

Parents Wacky Willa – This was one of the least expensive gifts we bought Jaden this year and it is by far her favorite. The bright colors and the clanging sounds of the plastic rings seem to be very stimulating for her. If you pull the bow on top of Wacky Willa’s head then she vibrates which Jaden thinks is hysterical.

LeapFrog® Tag Reading System – This was the perfect present for a toddler who is anxious to read. It will read the entire story, page-by-page, or individual words. The pen holds up to 5 stories at once and each book includes some great reading comprehension games for each story.

Disney Hannah Montana Karaoke + Video Camera – Purple (HM950KC) – Wow, we knew that this gift from Grandma Richards would be a hit but we didn’t anticipate it would so popular! Jasmine is quickly learning all the words to Hannah Montana’s hits (lucky us!) and both girls enjoy the video camera feature that projects them onto the television screen.

MISSES

Little Einstein’S Symphony Composer – Since Jaden loves music and moving buttons/switches, we thought she would enjoy this toy. However, we have offered it to her several times now and she shows no interest.

Disney Princess Magic Talking Nursery – This was a very expensive gift from Santa for Jasmine last year and even one year later it is still a big miss. She plays with the crib but has never played with the other pieces.

NEAR MISS

Baby Alive Learns to Potty – I had a Baby Alive doll when I was four so I was amused that Jasmine wanted this doll so much. She started asking for it at least three months ago and it was the only toy that she consistently told Santa she wanted this year. My mother wanted desparately to give Jasmine this gift so we had to tell Jasmine that Nana talked to Santa and agreed that Nana would buy it. Jasmine danced around the room when she opened the doll at our family gift exchange. Later that evening my sister-in-law was helping Jasmine feed the doll. Before Baby Alive could relieve herself on the potty, Jasmine grabbed her and the baby threw up all over Jasmine’s Christmas dress! Mortified, Jasmine abandoned the doll for nearly a week. We begged her to play with Baby Alive, encouraging her to love the baby just as we loved our children when they threw up on us dozens of times. Finally Jasmine re-adopted Baby Alive but still only pretends to feed her!

What were the popular toys at your house this Christmas? We’re especially interested to learn about toys that are appropriate for special needs children.

-Melissa

Explore posts in the same categories: Christmas, Disabilities, Family, Melissa's Blog, Parenting, Shopping

Tags: Popular Christmas gifts, special needs toys, Fisher Price, Little Mommy, Parents Magazine, Wacky Willa, Leap Frog, Tag Reading, Disney, Hannah Montana, Karaoke, Little Einsteins, Symphony Composer, Disney Princess, doll nursery, Magic Talking Nursery, Hasbro, Baby Alive

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