When Poppy was very young — around 2 or so — Rockford and I discovered a phrase that made the in-store gimmes almost nonexistent: Put It On Your Wishlist. As soon as she spotted something that caught her fancy, we’d say something like, “That does look like a fun toy. Let’s put it on your wishlist!” And she was OK with that.

Not only was she OK with it, she was wildly excited about it. Suddenly everything was going on her wishlist. We’d walk through Target to the tune of a constant stream of lisping whispers — “wishlist, wishlist, wishlist” — and we soon discovered why. It was because Santa Claus, she believed, “will bring me all my wishlist!” So the Put It On Your Wishlist plan did have one major flaw, but a good conversation (with a rather sad girl) and several reminders later, it was back in fully functioning order.

Pete, of course, has been a wishlister from the very beginning. As his Big Sister goes, so goes Pete.

When you’re working under the assumption that Santa is going to drop All The Things down your chimney, it’s easy to mark every trinket, bobble and bit as a wanted item. Once you understand that your Wishlist is just a set of suggestions from which Santa works, though, you have to be considerably more selective. And so as the children have grown, their wishlists have evolved into more targeted, formal endeavors.

In the past I’ve kept their wishlists for them in a text file on my computer, adding things to them as the kids specifically ask me to or when I notice they’re mentioning the same item over and over again. After checking out the My Wishlist function at Virtual Piggy, though, I’m thinking about switching that up for Poppy next year.

I set up an account at Virtual Piggy a few weeks ago, and earlier this week I dragged the “piggypin” link to my bookmarks bar. And then I set Poppy loose. (Sort of. She had a pre-approved list of sites she could visit.) Now all she has to do is hit the “piggypin” when she spots something she likes, and as long as she’s logged in to her Virtual Piggy account, the product is added to her wishlist. Think Pinterest for Legos and doll clothes.

In 30 minutes, Poppy “piggypinned” 9 items, including:

In addition to giving her a little window-shopping freedom and me a new way of keeping track of the things she’s into these days — I didn’t know she was interested in Legos! — I can share her Virtual Piggy wishlist with people via the Guest List. This will come in handy when, say, my sister-in-law calls me while I’m up to my elbows in marinara sauce to ask what the kids want for Christmas. Rather than saying, “Let me call you back” and then forgetting until three days later, I can just direct her to the Virtual Piggy Wishlist page! Much more efficient.

The wishlist isn’t the sole (or even primary) function of Virtual Piggy. It’s also an online payment system for kids, where you can automate things like allowance and let your kids shop at Piggy-approved merchants. I like the idea in principle, but allowance isn’t a given in our house. If the kids don’t do their chores, they don’t get their allowance. So we’ll continue being a cash-based system at least until Poppy and Pete get a little more consistent with their chores.

I will be using more of their My Wishlist feature, though, especially if it means I get to hear more of Poppy’s piggypin song. I’m really hoping she wins the Win Your Wishlist contest, which runs through December 7. That would certainly take care of one small songstress’ Christmas!

This compensated post is part of a Splash Creative Media campaign on behalf of Virtual Piggy. Opinions within are 100 percent Nichole’s own.