One Size Doesn’t Fit All When It Comes to My Angel’s Christmas List
Finding the right gift for an Angel can be tough. However, when I decided to let go of old expectations, I was able to craft the perfect Christmas list for my 11-year-old Angel, Juliana.
When Juliana was younger, I was all over the place when choosing gifts for her. Then I received a link to a post by a special needs blogger who touted the perfect gift list for Angels. I thought my search was over.
I couldn’t follow that link fast enough. But when I got to the post, I discovered more links to only sensory toys. Many of the gift ideas weren’t new to me or practical for Juliana. However, that blog post really got me thinking about what I was trying to accomplish.
Saying goodbye to guilt gifting
I wanted to make sure that Juliana had a ton of options for toys, just like her younger sister, Jessa. Because Angels don’t have strong fine motor skills, a typical toy might be difficult to play with or manipulate the way it was intended. I could buy regular toys, as I have in the past, but that doesn’t mean Juliana will play with them. Or that the toys will survive her rough play sessions.
One Christmas, I bought Juliana a musical toy she really enjoyed. But she banged it so much that it didn’t last but a few hours. When I mentioned the scenario to one of her therapists, she suggested I rent adaptive toys from Lekotek, a local play and therapy center.
I am impressed with Lekotek and its mission to bring adaptive play and other activities to children with disabilities. However, we have yet to visit. I have also stopped scouring websites and stores for the perfect toys for Juliana.
Why? Because I now realize Juliana couldn’t care less about most toys. She has come to enjoy our simple Christmas Day tradition, and it’s not about her having a ton of presents under the tree.
Juliana enjoys a beach ball, a homemade shaker, and her favorite doll on Christmas morning in 2018. (Photo by Sabrina L. Johnson)
All she wants for Christmas
So, for the past several years, Juliana has had a unique version of a favorite things list for Christmas. Her list includes a stuffed ladybug doll that makes a rattle noise and lots of beach balls. I also add on a few clothing items and some other small favorites for her stocking.
The pressure to find the perfect gifts and make Christmas magical is a fallacy. Giving my Angel time with her favorite people and her favorite things is more than enough to make her Christmas morning merry and bright.
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Marrissa Spielman
I'm desperately trying to find toys for my angelman brother whose 23 now. So far we've discovered he enjoys puppies, bubbles, trains, stability ball, and the color red. Please help I want to engage him more for him to enjoy mor besides a youtube.
Sabrina L. Johnson
Hello Marissa, my apologies that I'm sending this reply so late. It sounds like you're off to a great start by identifying his favorites.
The next step is probably just gifting him various versions of what he likes. For example, Juliana loves music so when we want variety for her, we make sure she gets a toy she can shake or play music on.
She also has apps on her iPad that let her choose from a variety of tunes. That free app was a really big score. Again, these are just variations of giving her what she likes.
If you're okay with stepping outside of the norm, you can probably come up with more options. By that, I mean that gift giving for Juliana got easier when I stuck with her categories: balls and musical toys. I don't really stray too far from this because when I have, the toys just sat in the corner.
If you want to gauge his interest before you shop, show him pictures of the item to see if it sparks some excitement. If not, then he probably won't enjoy it as a gift.
I hope this helps in some way and he is so blessed to have you as a caring sister.