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AIBU?

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Original poster

Raised eyebrow at niece’s Christmas list

251 replies

Princessmushroom · 14/11/2018 22:31

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).

OP posts:
Foxen · 14/11/2018 23:07

Model horse collecting is a thing, loads of adults are involved.

Schleich are nice, Collecta are lovely, Breyer are the big brand with different scales to collect in. They fetch big money for the rare or customised ones. And people take them to model horse shows which is a probably a step too far

Katedotness1963 · 14/11/2018 23:08

I’m 55 and collect Steiff bears.

But your post reminds me that some years ago a friend sent her daughters wish list for Christmas, it was all American Doll stuff, bloody expensive! I bought something that cost about $170. In March the next year I got an email from said friend that they were selling all the American Doll stuff on eBay as her daughter had outgrown it.

MrsFogi · 14/11/2018 23:11

I'd be delighted - the longer she keeps her imagination and steers clear of "grown up" stuff the better. Make her Christmas and just get something from the list - she'll have spent ages putting her hopes and dreams on it.

HestiasHauntedHandbag · 14/11/2018 23:11

My DD asked for some Harry Potter Lego for her 13th birthday!! She’s not into make-up or clothes yet. I think there’s plenty of time.
I know other girls her age are really into watching YouTube make-up videos and posting photos of themselves on social media all contoured and pouting .... I’m happy she’s not doing that yet to be honest!

KurriKurri · 14/11/2018 23:13

OK - I am liking these horses - I think I prefer the Collecta and the Schliech to the Breyer (the horses are all nice - not so keen on the people figures in any of the types)

Italiangreyhound · 14/11/2018 23:15

I would love it if my teen still wanted these kinds of toys. It is so sad she has grown up so fast! Sad

CoughLaughFart · 14/11/2018 23:16

I think it’s a difficult age. On one hand you’re desperate to grow up and be treated like an adult; on the other, your body is changing and it’s all getting a bit too real. It can be nice to keep a little bit of innocence.

Remember that advert a year or two back for Disneyworld, when the couple take their slightly older daughter and she loves it? The tag line is something like ‘She’s grown up - just not too grown up’. I imagine that resonated with quite a lot of parents.

MilkRunningOutAgain · 14/11/2018 23:17

My DS is 12 & her just completed Christmas list doesn’t look much different from the ones she wrote at 7 or 8, she still wants a big pile of crafty things (card - sparkly, coloured, metallic, plain), pens & paints and paper, books (these are more grown up, she now wants Percy Jackson), craft packs for making stained glass windows and various other things, cuddly toys, things for the guinea pigs & chocolate/ sweets. She has the whole of the rest of her life for grown up stuff, i’m very happy with it. On the whole she’s a responsible independent girl, but she still gets lots of pleasure from playing with toys, she spends hours playing schools & make believe with her cuddly toys!

MonsterKidz · 14/11/2018 23:19

I would be absolutely overjoyed at that list!

I opened your post thinking she would have requested something very grown up/inappropriate/expensive etc!

What a refreshing post!

StubbleTurnips · 14/11/2018 23:19

I think this is lovely. I bloody hope DD loves her toy horses forever (she’s asked for spirit playmobil), think we’ve got over 30 schleich ones now.... plus a stable —two—DS is beginning his dinosaur collection.

I’m starting to view them as a second pension Grin

Gwenhwyfar · 14/11/2018 23:20

"It’s not especially unusual for adult men to recieve Lego or modelling kits. "

Seriously???
I don't know any adult men who (admit to?) getting things like this.
Computer games, yes.

bonbonours · 14/11/2018 23:24

I also thought this was going to be the opposite thing, you saying a young girl wanted make-up / eyebrow threading / sexy underwear or something else that was too grown up for her. My 12 year old still loves little character toys. I'd much rather that than she was into stuff that is for adults.

shirleyschmidt · 14/11/2018 23:25

I don't know really. I imagine it's probably more unusual to want toys at that age but I'm 30 and still secretly enjoy the baby doll aisle at toy shops! Grin

Glaciferous · 14/11/2018 23:26

DD is 12 and still plays with dolls and soft toys. I'm glad she does. You get to be a grown up for so bloody long - why not enjoy being a kid while you can?!

BlankTimes · 14/11/2018 23:26

There's a similar discussion here, Lots of people say they or their family like things that are marketed for a younger age group.
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3422634-to-let-my-DD-get-what-she-wants?pg=1

Crazycakelady17 · 14/11/2018 23:27

You sound like a really kind auntie, it it’s schleich I can understand my 9 year old is obsessed we have a lot of them.
I remember still playing barbies with my sister who was 10 when I was 13 😊

AnotherPidgey · 14/11/2018 23:32

I still played at 13 and petered out around 14. There is too much pressure to grow up and stop playing too early.

dontalltalkatonce · 14/11/2018 23:34

Seriously???
I don't know any adult men who (admit to?) getting things like this.
Computer games, yes.

The father of one of my best friends is a self-made multi-millionaire, as in hundreds of millions. He's in his 70s and has an an entire room with Lego structures he's made and still enjoys them, as does his son who's in his 40s and a senior engineer. My dad is in his 80s and enjoys Lego.

As for OP, YABU. I played with 'toys' at that age, not all girls are ever going to be into makeup and clothes Hmm. Left home at 18 and have been self-supporting ever since.

I bought my niece Playmobil at that age. She's now in training to become a surgeon.

fanomoninon · 14/11/2018 23:35

dd is nearly 13, and her Christmas list is a real mix of child and becoming teen: she loves horses, and having looked at those people have been talking about on here, I would absolutely buy her good model horses for Christmas - a chance to own her three dream horses at a lower investment for me! Her and her mates definitely still play with toys, albeit in a semi-ironic/self conscious way now. Incidentally, my 14 nearly 15 yo also asks for toys still - puzzles/STEm based stuff, but really toys... As did my BIL and FIL last year...

ReflectionsofParadise · 14/11/2018 23:36

At 13 I got that crying baby sized doll that had a mechnical mouth and face. A giant oversized fluffy toy cat. A Beano annual. A diary. A china doll and probably a few other daft bits.

I don't see any issue here.

At 32 I want a Jellycat Octopus this year? Sue me.

AcrossthePond55 · 14/11/2018 23:37

I've been horse mad since I could walk and I loved my horse figurines well into my teens. They each had a name and one of them looked very like my own horse and was named after him. I gave them away in my early 20s to younger relatives and regretted it almost immediately but didn't want to ask for them back. I wish I'd thought to tell them that when they tired of them to give them back. Sad

RebeccaWrongDaily · 14/11/2018 23:42

my 12 year old got a human sized teddy and some playmobil for her birthday. it was the only stuff on her list.

InfiniteCurve · 14/11/2018 23:42

Some people do reach adulthood never having wanted makeup and clothes as gifts.Some of those people are girls!
Manufacturers age limits aren't really much of a guide to anything except possibly safety for young children's toys.Everyone has different loves and different abilities - just let people enjoy what they enjoy Smile

FFSFFSFFS · 14/11/2018 23:53

Cripes - you're judging what your husband's 13 year old niece wants for Christmas?

Well if it helps I quite raised my own eyebrow at your post.

I think that to compare what your husband's niece wants to what you wanted when you were 13 (with your own rose tinted glasses of how cool you were) - and conclude that she is weird because she doesn't want what you wanted is very weird. And to be honest kinda sad for you.

Why not revel in her ability to stick with what she enjoys doing. She might be able to give you some tips.

OneTwistedAngel · 14/11/2018 23:56

I was drinking and smoking cannabis at 13 so not a good example at all! I was all about clothes, music and concert tickets at that age. I think its great that she is still playing with toys. My DN is 12 and has asked for make up for the first time this year. Growing up too quick for my liking 😭 x