It's Christmas time, and this year will be Peter's first. Naturally, many of you are wondering what the boy needs. I'm writing to help you out.
First, let me tell you that Peter doesn't need much. Yes, yes, you can buy him clothes and toys if you want. I know it's hard for some of you to resist picking up something cute you see on sale. But we think the biggest need for Peter right now is... (drum roll)... BOOKS! He hardly has any! (Seriously). More on that later.
But first, for those of you with a penchant for clothes-shopping, Peter is just now stepping into the 9-12 month range. And if you're insisting on buying toys, we've got a couple guidelines to help you in the decision making process. (These aren't hard and fast rules, just guidelines!):
1. Simplicity is a virtue. We're not much into bells and smells and flashy lights. Leave some room for the imagination to work!
2. Substance rocks. We're also not much into funny plastic stuff. Some plastic stuff is great. But wood and metal work best. You know, stuff that's solid. Stuff that can be thrown around and beaten up: blocks, trucks, and balls.
3. Little boy hands are for building, fixing, and protecting. We're convinced that playing is for learning, not just entertaining (surprise!). And kids-play is at its best when it's imitating life. That's why little girls play dress-up and house. It's why little boys pretend to be heros and firefighters and dragon-slayers and army guys and carpenters and mechanics. Believe it or not, that kind of stuff is already starting with little guys like Peter. So a good question to ask is, "Is this toy for building, fixing, or protecting?"
But if you REALLY want to get Peter stuff he needs, then read on.
Little boy hands are for playing and building and fixing and protecting. But little boy minds need to be trained to love wisdom and to think well.
Little boy eyes need to be taught to appreciate beauty.
Little boy hearts need to be taught to love God and honor his parents.
What's better for that than some great books?
So since Peter doesn't have many books, we've put together a little wish-list for him over at Amazon:
In fact, we've had an Amazon wish-list on the side bar of this blog since before Peter was born! The great thing about using the wish-list is that you never have to wonder if we have the book yet or not. Once you purchase a book off the list, it lets everyone know (just like a standard gift-registry).
So, are you excited about buying some great Christmas presents for Peter? Good! Click on the button and buy away!
[Just a note: the books we've selected really aren't in any kind of order. They're just on there. You'll notice that some are probably much more appropriate for Peter's current age than others. We don't care. We'll add some even more mature books as he ages. Either way, we expect to get some good use out of anything currently on the list. As you can see, we're after the classics. Also, we're open to suggestions, so if you see something missing from the list that's a must-have, post a comment. It may be that we already have it, but it may also be that we overlooked it! Of course, we may have deliberately overlooked it, in which case your mentioning it would make for a slightly awkward situation. I can handle it if you can.]
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