Hanukkah Presents

Let me start by saying that I am totally conflicted about Hanukkah presents.  I think that by giving Star presents every night, she begins to think that Hanukkah is only about the presents.  Totally makes sense.  And, I hate that.  I also think that we have way too much useless crap in the house and Hanukkah adds to that.  On the other hand, if we want to fit into society, even a little bit, we kind of have to conform to the present thing or else she will feel totally left out when her friends get presents for Christmas.  Star has very generous grandparents who want to fund presents for her and I still haven't figured out a way for us all (Star, Scott and I, and her grandparents) to be happy with the gift giving process or the gifts themselves. 

Negativity aside, there are 2 presents that Star got this year that I love.  I conceptualized them and purchased them, but they were mostly funded by my parents.

First is the art cart.  I love it.  I am obsessed with it.   I got the idea from Pinterest and copied shamelessly.  Here's mine Star's. It's an Ikea Kitchen Cart with various boxes on it holding different art supplies.   Star loves it.  She's played with it every day since she got it.  She'll get out different supplies (sometimes beads and string, sometimes paper and pens, sometimes paper and scissors), and she'll play creatively by herself for quite a while. In the picture here, she said that she's working on a Hanukkiah (Hanukkah Menorah).  Another great thing about this is that it's easy to put all your supplies away when it's time to clean up.  She's been putting projects in progress on the bottom shelf so she can get them out next time she wants to play with them.  Also, it's on wheels, so it generally lives in my craft area of the living room, but she can roll it to the dining room or wherever she wants to do her art. 

The second present which I love is a dress up box.  This is again an Ikea thing filled with all her tutus, wings, firefighter hats, sunglasses and leotards.  Again, a total success.  She has played with this by herself and with friends who have come over.  Hours of creative fun. 

The presents on the other nights of Hanukkah are not nearly as impressive.  Last night was a collection of warm hats.  She got a few books one night.  Tonight, she's getting magnetic felt letters to play with on the refrigerator.