I don’t know how other parents do it, but I’ve always had a tough time shopping in advance for holiday gifts for my children. It’s not that I don’t know what they want–but what they want today is not necessarily what they’ll want two months from now. 
I blame the commercials. Sure, I know I shouldn’t allow my children to watch as much TV as they do. But at this time of year, the weather is often too “iffy” to play outside. Inevitably, the board games and army guys and matchbox cars and Legos are abandoned in favor of Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon.
Is it just me, or does it seem that in every half-hour cartoon, 23 minutes are commercials? Let me tell you, my seven-year-old is very affected by commercials. So it’s hard to know, when he asks for some toy or game, whether this is something he wants because he’s seen it or played with it at a friend’s house, or whether he’s only seen it on TV. If that’s the case, he’s probably not going to want it next week, never mind at Christmastime. That wish will be replaced by some other wish for a different toy he saw on a different commercial. We’ve been burned before–we’ve gone looking for that special toy–the one he had to have–only to see him play with it maybe twice in a two-year period. I could make that toy disappear today and he’d never even notice. (Come to think of it, maybe I’ll do just that.)
But Christmas is creeping up on me faster than I’d like to admit. At some point, I’m going to have to make that list and check it twice. I’m hoping that this year he’ll decide what he’d like and stick with his choice–and enjoy it after he receives it.
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