DD gave me her list to throw away!

[ChristmasTidyings]

DD (10) handed me a piece of paper this morning just before she left for school and asked me to put it in the recycling. It was her Christmas list 😮
I don't know whether she finally doesn't believe (she twigged the tooth fairy a couple of months ago) or whether she's heard too much about keeping energy costs down or even if she's making a secret list!
Would you say anything to her? The one thing she desperately wants she will not be getting (a pet).

Is there a reason she can't have a small pet. 10 is the perfect age to learn responsibility for looking after something like a hamster or even a fish.

Animals should never be presents.

What @itsthefinalcountdown1 said. I don't believe animals should be pets. And we live in a top floor flat with no outdoor space so it wouldn't be fair on any kind of pet.

Oops, obviously meant animals should be presents!!

For even a 10 yr old a small pet is a very serious undertaking. Very serious. Parents need to be ready to step in because 97.3% of the time, they will have to with food and cleaning.

Get her a tomogachi.

And whatever her reasons, she’s 10 and should still get a lovely Christmas morning full of Santa, even if ‘Santa’ requires a knowing wink.

Goldfish ok in a flat.

Sea monkeys!

I don't get the issue linking this stuff not believing or energy crisis!

Sorry posted too soon, They were all my kids 'first pets' over the years

How about something like this:
www.redwings.org.uk/adoption

You might be able to visit in the summer.

I did this sort of thing as a child out of guilt and money worries.
I'd have a gentle chat with her about Christmas and what, if anything, she's looking forward to. Instead of a pet could you get her something like riding lessons or animal experiences?

Any chance it was a first draft and she's written a better neater version so gave you the old one to throw away?

DD aged 8 is on version number 837 which each being more elaborate than the last. She knows that Santa doesn't bring everything on the list, just one or 2 things also wants to give him plenty of good choices,

I think sea monkeys are a good idea. I don't go for the pets as presents idea, but did get my child a fishtank for his birthday. You have to prepare the water etc before you can populate it. So we had him do all the prep work and he is very responsible with them still, six months later. I might actually go with getting him the cat or dog he wants, because I do think he will share some of the responsibility of the care.

Could be lots of reasons, maybe she wrote it again? not to derail the thread but I see mention of hamsters, if kept in a correct size cage the cages take up quite a bit of room there are hardly any cages in pets at home that are the recommended size. They need enrichment and time to become friendly but mostly remain nocturnal. one of mine was prone to eye infections at £38 per trip to the vets!
Sea monkeys are a good idea I loved them when I was a kid!

Keep her list.

See if you have any local places with animals who take youth volunteers (one place near me it's £5 for two hours and you drop dc off and they help feed and muck out)

What about an ant farm? Usually they have glass sides and you can see them working away

She has only just twigged that the tooth fairy isn’t real??????????

No!!!
In a proper bowl or an aquarium.
They just flap about on the floor for a couple of minutes if you put them in a flat.

I dont think op wanted easy pet ideas.

I would mention later that you noticed it was her Xmas list she wanted throwing away and ask her if she meant to give you the list or was it a mistake.
I'd assume she wanted you to question it or why not bin it herself?
Could be a simple explanation like she's made a new one or she may want a conversation with you about it.
I would definitely mention it though.

I'm getting my DD a great african land snail for Christmas. She's had rats before and we have 2 cats so a snail should be a breeze in comparison..

Probably not the pet she had in mind but my DS is getting Mermaid kingdom for xmas. Stuff like that (brine shrimp, triops, pond snails) are mega hardy and dont really need any looking after (they can live independently eating algae in stagnant unchanged water) so are perfect for kids.

Basically any other pet you get you will have to take on a care role which is understandably a huge PITA.

I really wouldn't suggest fish though as tank care is actually REALLY hard... its a pain to set up for tropical but cold water like gold fish are by far the hardest to care for correctly, they are suppose to live 40 year in a pond and grow over a foot most die as little babies in tanks from inproper care.

Hamsters die so soon (from short lifespan length) that allthough they are lovely I would never take on ownership of one again (same with rats etc...)

If your looking for a family pet (not xmas present) then cats are usually the easiest option as the are pretty independent (a 'rural' requires very little care at all) that I would recommend.

What normally happens to her christmas list?

At 10 surely she could put her own recycling out so she obviously wants you to see the list.

I'd ask her why she wants it recycling - could be as simple as she has rewritten /changed it but equally she could be questioning many things and trying to work it out in her head about santa and wanting to believe /not believe

Hmm, my kids would put something in the recycling themselves (perhaps with prompting). If they gave me something to put in there I’d assume it was a way to tell me they wanted to talk about it or at least to send me a message (or an outbreak of laziness of course!)