I talk all the time about the benefits of having traveling kids. There are many, to be sure- tolerance, confidence and self-reliance spring to mind. The best benefit traveling kids get- at least in my opinion- is a wider definition of the possible then their non-traveling friends.
Travel hacking kids have it times two as we show our kids ways and means to see the world that would normally be out of reach. Kids who sleep in castles are more likely to believe that dreams come true.
Which leads me to Santa and the awkward list. (If you’re a humbug feel free to stop here as I won’t have it. We are unapologetically a Santa friendly household- even if 13 year old Deal Kid appears to put air quotes around “Santa”.)
The Deal Kids are notorious for making Santa lists that are just more challenging and/or awkward than your average Target can handle. I’m not talking about Hatchimals level awkward- although Deal Kid is asking for an NES this year.
I’m talking awkward due to sheer randomness.
I blame the travel- more specifically the travel hacking. I’ve shown the Deal Kids that we can fly first class to Asia. That we can see Bastille Day fireworks from a suite higher than the Eiffel tower. That we can commune with Mayan priests, have tea on the Titanic or teach English to Japanese preschoolers. Why wouldn’t Santa be able to do anything? We can, can’t we?
I will say the Internet has made Santa’s job possible- but still not easy. Things like shipping costs and lack of ability to return amp the difficulty up way past your average wish list.
Past Deal Kid requests have included Vinylmation- via Disney World- and very specific types of Manga- a Japanese obsession. The only store Santa can reliably get Tees that pass Deal Kid muster is Uniqlo- also discovered in Tokyo.
Deal Girl is the gold standard of awkward Santa wishes- and she’s so earnest you don’t want to kill the magic. When Deal Girl was 4 she had asked for, I don’t remember, probably something Panda Bear related. That is, until Christmas Eve morning, when she decided upon waking she wanted to change her Santa request to “a flower game”.
“Deal Girl, Do you have a flower game in mind? Have you ever even seen a flower game?”
“No, but Santa can make one for me.”
And Santa did. On Christmas Eve.
image via Amazon
This year Deal Girl has two requests of Santa- both directly related to her travels over the past year.
The first is a reversible rainbow sequin T-shirt like the one we bought over Spring Break in Gran Canaria. Any idea how rare reversible sequin T-shirts are? Pretty much the only company that makes them is Desigual, the store where we bought the shirt. Fortunately, they have a US presence and a few resellers on Amazon and eBay.
The second are Iwako erasers. If you looked up the term kawaii I’m sure you’d find a picture of Iwako erasers, tiny reproductions of food and animals that also clean up your pencil mistakes. Fortunately Santa found a way to purchase them wholesale. The profits from the erasers just might up for the egregious cost of the Desigual T-shirt!
Iwako erasers- another traveling kids’ Santa wish list item.
Have your kids made things awkward for Santa? Was he able to come through in the end? I’d love to hear your stories in the comments.
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How about having the kids do service project work with those unfortunate? It would give them an opportunity to give and to share and see joy on the face of others who do not have much. Their requests from ‘Santa’ will most likey change.
Why can’t kids be charitable while still asking for a gift from Santa?
None of their requests are outrageous, just unusual…cmon, she is asking for erasers! It’s not like she wants a pony. Even the NES (assuming it was stocked correctly) is $60.
And even if I gave my daughter a pony it wouldn’t stop her from collecting for the animal shelter. Deal Kid wouldn’t stop helping mentally challenged kids play baseball if I gave him a 60 inch TV.
Charity is all year in our house. Santa is one day. I choose to let them be kids on that one day.
Those items sound like fun! I have seen some reversible sequin shirts, but not with rainbow sequins. I hope they come out with more shirts like that here! It sounds like even though the items are hard to find in the US that the lists are in some ways easier than the typical pony or ipad type of list. My kids often have big items like an ipad , computer, etc on their list- “just in case.” At our house the kids make a list of 4-5 items they would like just to give Santa ideas, and Santa usually leaves one or two plus a couple surprise gifts. We explained how Santa is magical, but he has a lot of kids to give gifts to. There are rumors that Santa no longer makes all the gifts at the North Pole and often times due to copyright issues etc has to send elves out to buy some gifts. The story at our house is that Santa must have money from other investments such as stock in hot chocolate and peppermint. 😀
I have a third culture kid who likes the toothpaste we used when we lived in Europe, so we stock up on toothpaste whenever we get back there! 😀
LOL. We decided Santa has an in with Amazon. The Percy Jackson series suggests that Amazon is run by actual Amazon warriors- so we figured they are magic friendly.
On Saturday we went to breakfast with Santa and my daughter asked him for her own Hubble Space Telescope. She’s 8. I’m not sure what made her change her mind because up to this point she was asking for a Barbie pop up camper. Later I heard her telling her brother she was going to use it to prove that aliens exist:)
LOL…maybe get some tin foil and shape a “alien encounter” satellite dish on top of the Barbie camper?