Special Saturday - Christmas Gift Ideas

 This week they decided it would be a good idea to share our Christmas gift ideas for people with special needs!

Well I for one am looking forward to reading everyone else's posts because I'm stumped!

Bear used to be easy to shop for...TRAINS were the only thing he wanted, and then he expanded his horizons and enjoyed diggers and trucks.

Trouble is that Bear wrecks stuff...frequently!  So we very quickly stopped buying him cheaper trains/diggers/trucks and always bought him good ones that are pretty much Bear proof.

Now Bear is nearly 12 years old and there are a fair few Christmases and birthdays in nearly 12 years.  And since most of his trains/trucks/diggers are Bear proof, most of them are still here.  There are only so many trains/trucks/diggers that one child can have!!!

The next problem is Age Appropriateness.  Now I don't really get on the boat that says that my child should play with things that are age appropriate just because it's socially acceptable...he is who he is and we love him that way.  But it does break my heart to see him not fit in with his peers...honestly I tear up at EVERY school assembly and at the Christmas Concert I'm a sniveling mess.  So it is nice if, when other kids his age come over, he has something to play with that will interest them too.

The third problem is extended family...Every blinking time I come up with the ideal present for Bear, my jolly mother goes and buys it for him instead.  Earlier this year the Geek bought himself a remote control helicopter (actually he's bought several throughout the year as he and Bear are a little bit inclined to crash them) and Bear loves them.  He loves to watch them fly and once they get to the point where all they will do is spin around on the floor he loves to have a go himself.  Perfect Christmas present! And it's age appropriate!  So what is my Mum getting him?

Okay so that's not all that bad, it's awesome that she wants to get him something that he loves that is age appropriate too...and if I'm honest, he probably wouldn't complain about getting TWO remote control helicopters for Christmas this year, but I do want our present to be just a little bit special too.

We've got all the other kids a bike for Christmas but Bear will not ride a bike.  The last time we got all the other kids a bike for Christmas we decided that we had to get Bear one too.  When he was in kindy he would ride the little trikes there but he was well and truly too big for one of those so we thought we would try and get a bigger trike.  There is a place in Perth that modifies bikes for the disabled, they are a little bit on the expensive side but we were able to get some funding to help pay for it.  This thing was FANTASTIC!  The Geek reckoned he wanted one for himself.  We were ALL really excited about it...All except for Bear.  It's still sitting outside and it's taken a fair beating over the years but Bear has never ridden it.  (He did take great pleasure in pushing the other kids around on it though so it wasn't a total flop)

Suffice it to say we will NOT be buying Bear a bike this year.

So I said I was stumped, and I am, for his main present! But having 6 kids I have to be at least a little bit organized by November.  So what have I got?

Actually aside from a few stocking fillers the only thing we have bought him so far is a couple of DVD's.  One of which I know he will love because he has borrowed it from my Mum dozens of times, the other?  Well he will probably have to watch it 3 or 4 times before it becomes a favorite!

We are also planning to buy him a new CD player because his is on it's last legs and life without music at bed time is...well quite frankly I don't even want to go there!!!

But what will be that fantastic gift that is going to light up that gorgeous face in a huge grin?

Well...I have 50 more days to think about it!


This post is part of the Special Saturday campaign for raising awareness of special needs!