The Greatest Gifts

 

The two greatest gifts you can give your children are time and love.  But they won't enjoy that as much as a remote control car or Hatchimal.  So how do you buy presents that incorporate time and love?  Easy.
Philip's philosophy, or Philiposophy, is to steer clear of batteries.  I have noticed in my various encounters with children that toys that need batteries or chargers honestly don't get used very often.  This can be tricky, considering that all the items the younger two boys want for Christmas need batteries or chargers.  I think back to last Christmas, when I first started with the boys.  The youngest got a remote control car.  He loved that car!  It was rechargeable.  How awesome is that?!  But the young boy didn't know what to do with himself while the car was charging.
Once the car was charged, it would be driven around for about fifteen minutes until the battery died.  Back to the charger.  Back to waiting.  This continued for days until, finally, the remote control car was forgotten.
Toys that don't have rechargeable batteries are even worse!  Between searching for screwdrivers and the correct sized battery, the kids usually find something to play with.  Or maybe they don't even worry about changing the batteries because it's just too much work.
Steer clear of batteries.  How is this showing your child time and love?  It's not.  At least one person usually ends up frustrated trying to get a toy working again.
The best way to show your children time and love is to buy toys or items that promote imagination.  The six-year old loves building things.  And he tends to not use the instructions.  He just creates whatever he wants.  Earlier this week, he and I were playing with Legos.  There was a lot of dialogue between the different mini figures and a lot of creativity in the building.  And this fun lasted for almost two hours.  Time.
And I was there playing with him.  Love.
The six-year old also has a favorite stuffed animal named Wolfey.  Wolfey is a little shy, but he will answer yes or no questions by nodding or shaking his head.  This is imagination.  And stuffed animals (usually) don't need batteries or chargers.  You can talk to them all day long, if you want to.
I could go on for a while about the best toys to get your children.  But I won't.  Just remember that time and love is all a child really needs.  And you won't find that in the electronics section.