Raised eyebrow at niece’s Christmas list

[Princessmushroom]

Mostly posting for traffic. For context we are an early 30s childfree couple.

We received our niece’s Christmas wish list, (well husband’s niece), she’s just turned 13 and I have to admit that I raised an eye brow that 95% of her wishlist were some plastic horse toys of some sort. Popped on to Amazon to buy some and the recommended age was 4-10 years old IIRC. The upper suggested age was definitely 10.

It made me think about toys when I was 13 years old. I didn’t really have any apart from my favourite stuffed animals. I was all about make up, music, posters, books and magazines. I don’t have any siblings to compare to (20 year age gap) and my friends didn’t really have toys at 13 either.

So my question is if you or your children still had lots of toys or got new toys like this (plastic horses, Barbies etc) aged 13?

(We obviously did buy something from her wishlist, just to clarify).

I think lots of older kids/teens would still like a few toys, especially at christmas, but don't admit it. I think that's why novelty gifts, bobble heads etc are popular. My 11 year old likes a real mix of stuff that's a bit too old and a bit too young! It's quite sweet she really looks after any toys like lego much more carefully now and displays them, but she doesn't play with them much exactly.

Id definitely echo the 'at teenaged years you're expected to want nail varnishes etc' I always wanted craft sets, books and toys. Lovely to hear!!

My partners 12 year old wants gucci sliders and a designer dressing gown plus jeffree Starr makeup ect ..obv this is ridiculous & she wont get any, but toys are a nice change, they grow up far too quick nowadays.

So. My dd11- 12 in 4 weeks. She is into makeup. Cosplay, crappy apps. BUT her secret loves are still a lil Sylvia Ian families and cuddly teddy. She knows she’s “too old” but her secret and I feel like that’s totally what she’d ask aunties for who would never tell haha. I think it’s totally a matter of what they want to publicly admit. I felt pretty cool at that age. Totally rejected loads of things publicly but absolutely played with all my little sisters barbies and Tatt! X

UGH autocorrect. You all know what I’m saying...

Aw - I thought you were going to come on and say she was acting really entitled with the things she was asking for.

Well if my own life is anything to judge by - YABU to question this. I asked for a Rock Star Barbie aged 15 & I still love Barbies! Weird I know, but I wouldn't judge a child if they harboured similar toy devotion.

OP - I think some people are judging you harshly. My youngest DD is 12 and all she wants for Christmas is make-up, trainers and clothes.

I used to play with Sindy dolls (my DSIS is 10 years older than me so had Sindy rather than Barbie and I inherited them). I remember an aunt had a knitting machine and made me loads of outfits. I can remember still playing with these when I was 15 or so; however, I also inherited DBro Action Man, so gradually my imaginative play was less innocent and more what I would have liked to be doing.

I am also feeling quite guilty reading some of these comments. The one genre of toy my DD did still play with was her Baby Born doll. In fact she would have a number of dolls and cuddly toys that were her babies. We recently moved and all these got put into storage and I have been in no rush to get them out. This isn't because I think DD is now too old but more that she insists I play her imaginary ganes with her and act out being her sister and these games go on for days. Having said that, DH is going to storage tomorrow, so maybe I will get him to get the dolls out 😉

I played with Britains farm toys until I was 17/18.
Even now I would choose a set of toy cows over something that would typically be bought for a middle aged woman!

Poor kid. She’s got her Aunt (well her uncle’s wife) judging her behind her back

so Incredibly sad that a 13 year old should be judged for wanting toys.

I'm just stunned you'd take to mumsnet over this. Funny when you get the feeling that a post is about so much more than the Op is actually letting on.

Lovely - I've a unicorn on my Christmas list - know I won't get one though

You are so lucky, at that age my DD's Christmas wishlist was an iPhone 8 Plus!!

My 23 year old still gets excited by a K'Nex or Technic Lego set. When grandchild wanted Brio train set both my sons (child's uncles) were almost fighting about constructing the train track. They were positively gleeful adding in stations and tunnels and turntables. No problem as your dn is not upsetting anyone. Live and let live.

I collected toy horses until I was about 14. I gradually grew out of them but I remember family members making me feel that it was 'weird' in some way, which probably made me give them up earlier than I would have done otherwise. My family are, on the whole, great and I love them to bits, but I do still feel a bit sad for younger me, I wasn't doing any harm and it was something I enjoyed and that made me really happy. Mine are still in storage. I'm pregnant with my first DC currently and I can't wait until he or she is old enough to get them out to play with.

I'd far rather see toys on a young teen's Christmas list than expensive make-up and designer clothes and electronics etc. There's something refreshing about it and I think it's a shame to encourage someone who is still essentially a child to grow up too quickly.

I'm child free but if I had a DD I would much prefer her to want toys at 13 than makeup.
I wasn't into makeup until I was much older , I guess it would depend on upbringing , home background, school and friendship groups as to what a 13 yo girl was into

OP, I agree that it's probably quite rare for a 13 year old to still play with toys - and would have been when I was 13 (25 years ago).
However, I think it's really lovely that she still wants to play with toys. My 16 year old daughter loved toys - then when she got to secondary school, she packed them all away and never touched them again.

My boyfriend is 47. I bought him the Lego advent calendar this year and he is over the moon with it. He's getting more Lego for Christmas.

Why are people being so unkind to the OP?

She just asked a question, there was no bitchiness or sneering in her post, but there has been plenty in some of the replies on here.

I remember at 13 sometimes I’d sneak up to the attic to play with my old dolls. I forced myself to abandon my toys as I thought they were too childish and I needed to grow up. I did like makeup and other ‘teenage’ stuff but I was a young 13 and didn’t start my period until I was 14- not sure if that made a difference but I’ve often thought that there’s a correlation between puberty and how ‘grown up’ a child will act.

My daughter is nearly 12 and has very thoughtfully created a Christmas basket for me in Amazon with her wish list 🤔 she has asked for creative stuff this year as she likes art but she also loves collecting those plastic horses. She’s just started high school so at an an age where she sways between teen and child. Don’t judge OP everyone is different and in this day and age it’s refreshing kids of that age are not afraid to show their innocence.

I used to feel their was something really weird about the fact that I still loved reading children's books as an adult. It was like a guilty secret that I kept to myself.
Then I realised, from this and other sites, that lots of adults still enjoy reading school stories, and other childhood favourites and I don't make any secret of it anymore.

My 13 year old niece recently told me that she had been dreading the day she'd have to stop reading children's books but realised, from me, that she could keep on reading them for the rest of her life

I suspect a lot of kids feel forced to abandon things they enjoy for fear they will look babyish or be laughed at by their peers. It's a terrible shame and, as adults, we should probably be a bit more open about the child like things we still enjoy doing.

I agree with the people saying they'd be chuffed if their 13 yr old still wanted such innocent things. My 14 yr old SD has simply presented us with lists of make up for the past 2 years and lets just say Collection 2000 and Rimmel do not make an appearance!

I was horse mad as a kid, didn't own a pony so would role play with my Schleich horses. I can't remember when I stopped, it would have been when my younger sisters stopped as we used to play together so probably around 16/17. I still have them, I truly loved those lumps of plastic.

My boyfriend is 47. I bought him the Lego advent calendar this year and he is over the moon with it. He's getting more Lego for Christmas.

The lego advent calendars are brilliant! Me and DH were hovering last year when my ds's got one!!