Think Basic

Another Christmas has come and gone and I'm happy to have been blessed enough to share it with three beautiful and healthy children in the comfort of my own home with my hubby, who just happens to be pretty awesome, as well.

The kids got some pretty cool toys from Santa. Lola got a purse she can unpack so she can quit unpacking mine (not working so far) and a little pink remote control car she can ride around in. Gabe got another band T-shirt and a few other things. And Christian got a new therapy ball.

Speaking of Christian, it can be really difficult to find things to get a special needs child for Christmas or really for any gift giving holiday for that matter. I even have a hard time sometimes.

But the key in finding the right gift for a special needs child is simplicity. Our minds are so hardwired to choose the biggest, best, brightest, loudest, most high tech, expensive gadget we can get our hands on. The great thing about giving a gift to a child like Christian is that it's all back to basics.

Here are a few things Christian got for Christmas...

This "football" was found at Babies R Us and it made a perfect stocking stuffer for Christian. It's great because it's bright orange and he can get his fingers in all of the different holes. The holes aren't only great for feely fingers, but they also double as placeholders for cut up pieces of space blanket.

This dude sat perched on the corner of Christian's tray is great for holding because it's the perfect size for Christian's hand and it's pokey and has some good textures to it. Besides that, every kid should have at least one toy dinosaur, I think. Gabe had a whole farm of them when he was little, but he couldn't pronounce his "r's" until he was five so he called them dinasuah's. Don't tell him I told you that.

This toy is pretty cool and both Christian and Lola got one in their stocking. I found it at Walmart in the party favor section. It's a toy with a little button that makes the lights inside the clear plastic dome change and rotate really fast. It also vibrates and Christian really follows it with his eyes. I love this toy because:

1) It's multisensory.

2) It costs $3.50.

Mama loves a good deal on sensory toys!

Look how simple this is!!! It's a garland and it's got all the makings of a good sensory toy. It's bright, it's colorful, and it can be unwound and strewn amongst all of Christian's other toys, entwined in his seat, over his shoulders, there's so much you could do with this! And who says you have to put it away because Christmas is over? This baby is staying out all year round.

(Thanks, Nana!)

When my mom asked what she should get Christian, I opted out of suggesting another Playskool toy from Target because they are just not practical right now. I asked her to be creative, and because she's got creativity in every cell in her body, she came up with this beauty. Get this...it's a cooling and/or warming bean bag. It's designed like a strip of weighted blanket and filled with rice. So it can be warmed or cooled. And it's long so it can wrap around his neck, lay across his chest, or wrapped around an arm or a leg. It also has colorful ribbon hanging from it, just to make it that much more sensory driven. And she made the whole thing herself! (Thanks, again, Nana!)

 

It's also a Christmas tradition to put an orange or a tangerine in the bottom of the stocking so this is what Christian thought of smelling his orange.

Before... (happily opening his stocking with Daddy)

After....

Daddy: "Here, smell your orange, Christian."

Christian: "Gross, Dad! Get it away!"

Having a child like Christian forces one to be creative. If you're wondering what to get your special needs child or what to get for a special needs child you know and you're stumped, think simple. Think basic.

Think basic? In closing out this year and diving into another, getting back to basics and simplifying things sounds pretty good right about now.

If I don't have a chance to jump back on before the actual New Year...have a safe, happy, promising, and hopeful New Year!