Slinkies, Crayons, and New Bikes

Ahhh... Christmas is coming to a close (as I write this post) and I'm looking at the pile of gifts to put away, realizing something mothers have known for generations - you simply can't beat the classics!

This year's gift highlights were a new bike, roller skates, new dolls, and the like..... the same toys my siblings and I loved over the years. And then there were the classics that were "improved".... the set of 150 Crayola Crayons (did your children also receive giant sets of new crayons and hear grandparents reminisce about just how excited they were to get a set of 12 or 24 or 48... I think 64 is the biggest # in one set I recall?). I was excited when my daughter invited me to share the new crayons with her.... am I the only one who still gets excited about BRAND NEW crayons, and 150 no less??? :)

And then there was the GIANT slinky! Last fall, I went to U.S. Toy's Sidewalk Sale (a May & September tradition I always participate in)... and I was excited to find a "grab bag" of random goodies for somewhere between 25 cents and a dollar... with a GIGANTIC slinky, a hot pink wig (this turned out to be a treasure for a "crazy hair party" at AWANA) and some misc. party favor type toys. I was so excited to find the slinky (knowing it would be popular in our family), I hunted the sale for more, but alas there was only one so I bought it and hid it away for Christmas morning. The slinky was a HIT. The girls played with it all afternoon, its attention rivaling their other gifts. All that to say, it's a great reminder to gift-givers everywhere that, for children especially, the price tag doesn't matter, and you can't go wrong with a classic.

Okay, so now that the gifts have been given and all presents received, what were the biggest hits? Do tell!

Written by Kristina Light