Confessions of a Book Nerd...and Christmas Prep

I don't know if any of you knew this, but I'm the Queen of Amazon Wish Lists. Yep, I have earned the official title. Why do I love making Amazon Wish Lists? Amazon makes all my dreams come true. Amazon sells millions and millions of books! And millions of millions of other practical and impractical things. True confession, even my babe had his very own Book Wish List on Amazon before he was born. He still has it and, it has 57 books on it. I'm sure my parents are not surprised. Board books, beautifully illustrated hardcover books, chapter books (mostly from my year teaching 5th grade), Seuss books,  books with mathematical themes (thank you, Math Education classes), books from my own childhood, and books other moms have recommended. We may never own all these books, but a girl can dream, can't she?

Now let's bridge over to a different topic. Last year somewhere on the internet, I read about another family that had a fun tradition of present-buying for their kids' Christmas presents. They bought 4 gifts for every child, with each gift fitting into one of the following categories:
1. Something you want
2. Something you need
3. Something to wear
4. Something to read

Of course, the mention of something to read caught my attention right away, and the fact that the list includes practical things. I'm a bit of a pragmatist. I want my kids (the plural is hypothetical at this point) to understand that having new socks and shoes and underwear is a privilege! But I also appreciated #1, that you definitely pick something the child wants. I love the idea of buying gifts that people actually want. A no-strings-attached-you-asked-for-it-you-got-it kind of gift.

As I revisit this idea of present-giving a year later, I still love it. I just don't know if I will be able to constrain myself to buying only one book and only one fun toy. I'll update you all after Christmas and let you know if I stuck to this list. After all, our house is already full of fun toys, not to mention what it will look like after celebrating Christmas with Grammy, Grandma, Papa, and all the aunts and uncles in Oklahoma!

So, dear readers, what do you think? Do you like making ridiculously long wish lists for your child? Do you have a plan for buying your children presents for Christmas? Are you a fellow book worm?

Now, please excuse me as I put on my nostalgic Mom Hat for a moment. I just perused our external hard drive and pulled out all the pictures of Bram reading that I could find. Bear with me as I show them to you!

 

Newbie Bram and Grandma Peggy reading the classic, The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

 "Sitting" in his rocking chair reading a favorite from my growing up years, God Is With Me.

 Who said reading can't be fun? Just lay in the middle of all your blocks!

 Reading with Aunt Sarah!

 Doesn't he look like a serious reader here? Birthday Monsters is quite the gripping tale.

Dinosaur Roar is definitely a page turner and a good travel companion.

  All opinions are my own in this post, I was not paid by Amazon, just gushing about their great wish list feature!