So what do YOU want for Christmas?

Oh how some things change, and some stay exactly the same. I could have written this post just now. My boys are older, and the seven year old mentioned here is now 12, and he is asking for the latest and greatest Nintendo DS thingy. He is all about the DS XL I guess, but they all look the same to me, and just like five years ago, he ain't gettin' one this year. But the difference between the 2007 request for the DS is not only that he owns a run of the mill DS, but also a kindle Fire, and now an iPod Touch. Talk about loaded, they really are set until they are 80. Sigh..the well planned kid campaign is likely to strike again, but this time the kids has his own source of income. Life HAS changed, oh yes, it has. 

December 12, 2007

So what do YOU want for Christmas?

It's a question that we all ask our kids as the holidays approach. "What would you like for Christmas and Hanukkah this year (we celebrate both)?" I figure that the boys are all old enough now that they canactually give me answers. Boy, was I wrong. I asked the first one I could grab and all I got was "I already told the teacher at school what I wanted." Huh? So I peeked on the list the next day at pre-school and all it said was Pokemon cards. Easy enough - especially if that's all he wants. He's 4.5 and doesn't have a lot of needs, and apparently not a lot of wants either. So, I hunted down the next kiddo. He's also 4.5 and I thought he was going to be a bit tougher. "Well, I want Pokemon cards." Man, this is going to be an easy year for me - all I need to buy is Pokemon cards. I was hoping my luck would hold out and sure enough it did..sort of.

I asked the oldest what he wanted, if he had thought about it at all. "Yeah, Mom. I want a pack of 60 Pokemon cards - but make sure they are the Diamond and Pearl kind." Woo Hoo! Pokemon cards all around - done! "And a DS." Thud. That was my trophy for my perfect record of getting my kids exactly what they want for the holidays hitting the ground and smashing to pieces.

Up until now they haven't asked for much, and we were able to supplement their wants with things that we thought were cool. We avoided the whole "We want a puppy!" thing this go round - they went through that phase a few months ago (we're cat people) and thankfully it passed quickly. But this whole Nintendo DS thing has been in the works for a several months now. "But J has a DS and he has all the cool games" and "But all my friends have DS's and I don't." and "But this one game only runs on the DS and I really want it." Yeah, but you guys have three Game Boys, a Game Cube and a computer, and that's plenty. I'm sure I did the same thing when I was a kid, and I'm sure this is my payback. So, I told him very clearly, "I'm not getting you a DS." Crickets. You could hear them all the way from Richmond. And the look on his face when he finally realized (after me telling him this exact thing five other times prior to this particular conversation) that he wasn't getting a DS was decidedly...normal. Huh. He's seven so I was expecting more complaining. But then again he's seven, so it may be just the beginning of a huge campaign to get himself a DS.

And to make it worse, my hubby questioned the fact that we weren't getting them any electronics for Christmas - not even a single game for their current systems. I'm sure that these three kids have plenty of games and plenty of electronic things to keep them occupied well into their 80's. (For the record they are getting some cool presents, just no electronics.) And I'm sure that he'll have his Nintendo DS on or before his next birthday - after all, we're suckers for the well planned kiddo campaign. Sigh...