Great, but inappropriate presents

I've been meaning to write about this for a while but apparently it's not a huge deal so I keep forgetting to do so.

So my problem is that Pappy and Grammie keep giving Ellie great gifts. You're probably wondering why that's an issue. It's an issue because the great gifts are almost always for an age group two years older than Ellie's age.

The reason they keep doing this is that they have another grand-daughter and they want to get the two girls the same gift. However, the other girl is 2.5 years older than Ellie.

Some examples?

When we were moving away from MD (right after Christmas time), Ellie got a big plastic slide for the yard. This particular present annoyed us for more reasons than just the age recommendation. We were in the middle of having our house on the market and had no place to store a big slide, yet we didn't want to set it up because of the house showings and the fact that we were hoping to move in a couple weeks. Getting the slide initiated our decision to get a big storage unit for a bunch of stuff. Anyway, the slide was rated for 3 years and older. Ellie had just learned how to crawl (8 months).

Another Christmas present (again at 8 months) was a cute little pink luggage bag on wheels. We actually have gotten quite a bit of use out of it, but not until long after Ellie started walking!

For her first birthday, Ellie got a tea set, rated for ages 3 and older. We actually use the tea set all the time and love it. However, it's made of porcelain and Ellie is definitely more rough with it than I'm comfortable with. She's just at that age where she likes to explore what happens when she hits things together rougher than normal use. A plastic or tin tea set would have been great.

The following Christmas (20 months), Ellie got a talking Elmo doll. Again, the rating was for children 3 and older. I think the biggest reason for waiting until that age is that Ellie was terrified about a talking toy. We've had to put it in storage for a while.

For her 2nd birthday, Ellie got a game console that turns our TV into a gaming station. She is definitely not old enough to understand how to control the characters in the games, so it ends up being Mommy or Daddy playing and Ellie watching. It's rated for 4 and older.

They really are great presents, but just not applicable to Ellie's age. The frustrating thing about it is that we can't just store it right away. As soon as Ellie sees the toy, she wants to play with it. Then she gets frustrated once we try to play with it. I'm sure that the toys will become some of Ellie's favorites (a couple years of counseling, she should be able to get over her fear of the Elmo doll), but I just wish they could buy Ellie presents that match Ellie. Not her older cousin.

Eventually the age difference won't matter between the two girls. However, even then I'd like for the grandparents to get her something that matches *HER* personality instead of her cousin's. I recall being annoyed whenever my family members lumped my sister and I into the same person and I can totally see that happening in this situation.

So there's my vent of the day. Take it or leave it. Actually, now that you've read the whole thing, I guess you have to take it. Sorry about that. =)