Oh, poor Shirley Ujest. I so feel your pain. Stuff like that just ruins The Big Fucking Jolly Holiday. Which I loathe to begin with. Turns it into even more of a chore.
When my nephews were small, I had NO IDEA in the world what to buy them for Christmas. (They lived far away, I wanted to be a good auntie, wanted to send something that didn’t have to be returned or exchanged.) No idea. Trucks? Legos? Robots? Dinosaurs? Transformers? Footballs/basketballs/baseball gloves/soccer balls? I would stare at the Toys R’ Us ad, clueless. I was great buying girls presents, but not a clue as to what boys liked. Ask the parents (who were stinking rich) and they’d say, “Oh, get them anything! Anything at all?” Well, that narrows it down, thanks! :mad:
So I’d send something artsy-crafty (model dinosaur kits), or books. Can’t go wrong with books. I still have the classics my uncle sent me every year when I grew up - Little Women, books of poetry, etc.