Christmas toys

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A very fine Christmas was had by all. Dd and Ds had a great time, and loved all their presents. However, there is a special place in Hades for whoever decided that all toys now have to be attached by half a dozen or more ties, plastic tabs, bits of string an elastic bands. And what sadist decided that all the decorative bits now have to be put on stickers. Have these people never given a toy to an over excited child, who doesn't want to wait?! And as for the designer of the magic Merbaby water wheel, I would do things to him that Amnesty International would ban.......

Well dd loved her ELC dolls house, although worried me slightly - grandma is currently in bed with daddy, baby has been flung out onto carpet in favur of baby Jesus from the crib (must be a message from up above somewhere there) and mummy has been collapsed on the floor of the kitchen for three days now. (oh well she has one of those right). Must go and change the sleeping arrangements.

JanH - can't remember if you're in the UK, but Robot Wars is a programme normally seen on BBC2 around 6.45pm on Fridays. However, I think its the close season at the moment. Have a search on Google and you should get an idea of the robots!

They're generally about a metre long and weigh about 100kgs, and are remote controlled. The object of the game is to use your weaponry and skill to knock your opponents into various traps in the arena, or slice chunks off them!

Sir Killalot and Matilda are two of the half dozen or so "house robots" built at great expense by the BBC. If a competitor's robot gets into the corners of the arena then the house robots can attack them, and generally destroy them. In the ealy programmes the competitors were generally engineering students from various university science departments, but now groups of friends and families build robots at home to enter the competition also.

Kids both got a good variation of presents - ds (9) a pool table, bey blades, Fifa 2003 Playstation game, a scatreboard and a new CD player - hardly seen him since Christmas!!
Dd (6) got Baby Wee Wee (God it really really gets on your nerves!!), a ELC desk and the barbie laptop plus various other pink bits and pieces - also kept herself amused!!
Have to say though the best present for us was dd's Playstation dance mat - she can't do it but dh & I have had a great laugh with it - even had our friends round at the weekend and they thoroughly enjoyed it too!! Who says Christmas is just for kids!!

Our playmobil space station took my partner hours and hours to construct. Still, it is absolutely fab, I must say, though I think I almost prefer the clean lines of our Playmobil aeroplane, complete with cup dispenser and juice rack for thirsty passengers. I do love Playmobil despite the fact that it arrives in many pieces. Biggest surprise hit with my boys were 2 (cheap!) tin clockwork robots.

MandyD, thanks for explanation, I have seen Robot Wars occasionally but the name of Matilda didn't stick, obviously.

Still prefer the idea of Monty P's `revolving knives in the entrance hall! (not for toddlers, though, perhaps.)

I have no helpful recommendations re presents I'm afraid. DS2's snake is still his best thing but you probably don't want to hear that (feeding it with poor little dead baby mice dangling from pliers is not a life-enhancing experience.)

I'm sure my DS would love a model abbatoir playset anytime Janh, and he's only 3½! I've decided that the two Matilda weapons have to be used independently - slide into a gap in it's rear end - as they definitely won't fit in together.

Lambchops, you could also write the message with lemon juice or milk. If no real fire is available to reveal message, a candle is as good but, as you said, try not to set fire to the house, especially just before Xmas and especially not when the firefighters are on strike!!

Ds (nearly 4) got several presents which he loves and spends time playing with. Dd (6) is in a state of perpetual boredom. If she had had 100 presents she would still have sighed and said "What can I do mummy?".

For ds I think best presents were beyblades, the LeapPad and, most of all, a very expensive moving, growling, lifelike (but smaller, obviously) T Rex from Hamleys given to him by my sister. Other sister's present was a Stomp rocket, also a hit. Ds loved Christmas day so much he said "did this day really happen mummy or did I dream it?" Bless.

ds has played continuously with his Lego Creator set (I am getting a bit tired of assisting with the building of monster ducks and attempting to recreate Buzz Lightyear in bricks, however) and the Brio Builder space shuttle. Well-made and very satisfying to wallop with a Brio-approved plastic hammer.
Least well-received present - a book from mummy and daddy called "Everyone Poos". Yes, even you, ds1, once in a while. Went down like a lead balloon.
Batters, is Smelly Bottom Valley a Connex-run station?

DS (15 months) gave a big thuumbs up to a rainbow slinky (the spring thing which walks down stairs). And the toy vacuum cleaner was a big hit too - he's been hoovering the floor, the furniture, us..... now he just needs to get strong enough to haul the real one around and he can have that job!

That's a coincidence Marina, we have "Everyone Poos" too, and DS is not keen on it either! Except that, having looked at it again when he was 3 he is now keen on looking at what he's "produced" and grading it, eg. lion poo, monkey poo, elephant poo! LOL

Have to speak up for the annoying fiddly ties that hold toys in their packets - they were definitely dd's favourite present (not the ties, obviously, but the long plastic tags with holes in that hold it together).

Other than that, the Christmas cards have been the biggest hit. dd will pass them back and forward for ages.

My DD's best present was a Crayola first colouring book with 3 washable pens - she adores it and it cost the grand sum of £3.50 !

Second best would be the ELC dolls house - although sadly no people live there yet - so we don't have any strange sleeping habits yet ! A very small teddy has taken up residence in the bed though and a santa toy seems to have moved into the loft !

Worst present was an enormous (7 foot long !) and ugly cheap dalmation dog from the PILs. She didn't even look at it and I hated it on first sight - no redeeming features I'm afraid so it's in the loft already ! Ungrateful or Feng Shui ?

Puppet theatre - handmade by grandma and grandma, plus puppets from an uncle. Keeps them entertained for ages.

Ds's (15months) favourite presents were a very small wooden train clearly marked not for under-3s which you can wind up and send across the floor. He'll play 'fetch' with it for ages, while dh or I sit on the sofa. Also a selection of tiny plastic dogs (or woo-woohs) bequeathed by my stepdaughter, who live in his shape sorter house (otherwise useless!) and are much loved. Also a £2.50 ancient pushalong dog from the Celia Hammond Cat Rescue Centre and given a good wash. He adores it. I bought some expensiveish presents (tender for his wooden train and a tricycle) but decided not to save them for his birthday as he had no idea it was Xmas & it would save some money. We spend silly amounts of cash on babies who are totally oblivious to our efforts, don't we?

Aloha-I guess you live in S.E London like me from your comment about Celia Hammond Rescue Centre! My DS favourite Christmas toy has been the ELC Magic Mountain wooden train set and Thomas accessories-Cranky the Crane, Water Tower and Engine wash.Also a Spiderman suit which he would not take off for 3 days...and nights!