With six small children between us, Christmas requires a lot of planning to ensure that Santa can deliver all the Paw Patrol paraphernalia and assorted plastic bits that fill their lists. Not to mention the presents that we would like to receive.
‘What I’d love to find under the tree’
Anna: A Peloton would be nice! But for a present without a $2k price tag, I would very much like a gold chain necklace to wear with t-shirts, like this one from Reliquia or this one from Rylan Studio.
I love a maxi dress, and Marle is one of my favourite New Zealand brands. This chocolatey green colour is gorgeous. It is possible (likely) I will buy it myself.
Lauren Groff’s Fates and Furies is one of my favourite books, so I’d love her latest, Matrix!
There is nothing I am looking forward to more than being relaxed enough [read: off deadline] to read my book [read: fall asleep] wearing a face mask. And Syrene’s aqua sheet mask remains one of my favourites.
Fliss: This year, I’m trying to shop more sustainably and I think I’d get a lot of wear from this Viktoria & Woods relaxed shirt in a soft pink. Like Anna, I may buy it myself and say it’s from my parents, whose gifting is… sporadic.
Speaking of Mum, she has a simple eternity band that I’ve always loved, and this gold ring with pink sapphires from Meadowlark would make the most beautiful present, in case anyone who loves me dearly is reading.
I find childlike joy in anything that packs away neatly in a box, so when I saw this FLOE gym box – a chic bench that contains everything from a kettle bell to a ballet barre – it went straight onto my wish list. Yes, it’s expensive at nearly $2,000 but you do get three months’ complimentary access to interactive workouts online and yes, I have drunk the Kool-Aid on this.
The empty pages of a new diary sing with possibility, which is why – as a tragic optimist – it’s one of my favourite gifts to receive. This Curation version from Saint Belford has a self-care planner and monthly reflection prompts, for the newly mindful version of myself in 2022.
‘What we’re buying the kids’
Anna: This is, in fact, what my kids, aged six and four, are getting this year (along with plenty of Paw Patrol – there is no perfect parenting in our house). These ‘search and find’ books are not new but they are beautiful. We have one already and have literally spent hours combing the pages, finding animals.
My daughter has very clear ideas about what she is and isn’t prepared to wear, but I like my chances with this beautiful Print Bebe dress.
Fliss: Surely one of the best ways of boosting our household sustainability is to put the children to work making their own clothes, which is why I’m getting them this aqua sewing machine this year. I have four children; surely one has some sartorial talent?
My youngest has been asking for a wheelbarrow like the one at kinder, so he’ll be getting one of these cute versions from Hip Kids (incidentally, a site full of stylish, Scandi-style toys).
‘What we’re getting our partners’
Fliss: My husband has just bought a barbecue so large and swanky that I fear it will turn up its nose at our rusty old tongs. That’s why I’m buying this professional-looking set that comes with stainless steel knives, tongs and other alarmingly sharp stuff in a Mafioso steel case.
I love these modular, customisable sunglasses from Good Citizens, partly because each pair is made from one single-use plastic bottle and partly because he’ll just look great in them.
Anna: My husband has become obsessed with golf. (Why, yes, I have indeed married my father.) My golf-loving family tells me that this is the thing for golfers.
Unyoked voucher A weekend away without internet sounds pretty amazing right now. And he’ll like it when he gets there.
Illustration by Bonnie at Studio Bon
BY Felicity Robinson & Anna Saunders
Fliss and Anna are the co-founders of PRIMER. The best gift for them is five minutes peace
Editor's Picks
No Comments