Friday, November 10, 2006

Hanukkah Gifts Spoiler

If you're a family member or my BFF, stop reading now. I'm in the mood to talk about children's holiday gifts. Everyone else's kids, that is. I have no idea what we're getting for our boys.

NieceS: 12 year-old girl, beyond brilliant, has discovered fashion. And boys, I guess. She wanted, and will receive, a shirt from her new favorite store, Abercrombie and Fitch. Shopping for the shirt was sheer torture: loud, thumping music; cloyingly sweet fragrance throughout the store; extremely poor lighting; insolent help, and clothes that were ridiculously overpriced and undersized.

NephewB:
Brother of NieceS, is almost 10 years old. Also beyond brilliant: does adult-level, extremely hard Sudoku. Get the picture? The kid has read everything in the library and probably the local bookstore. This year he's getting two board games: Risk and Lost Cities. Wizard chose these for his cousin. Wizard would like to have both for himself, just in case Grandma and Pop-pop are reading this.

NephewA: Also cousin to S&B, is a 13 year-old boy. He is a really nice kid and very bright. I have bought him books in the past, but I want to choose something different. We got him an iPod Nano for his Bar Mitzvah this year. I'm thinking another iTunes gift card or maybe that Lost Cities game.

NieceR: Sister of NephewA and not the scholar he is. She's 11 years old and quite into girly stuff. A real social butterfly. I found a set of Sisters Grimm novels at Target a few weeks ago. They look like great stories about the madcap adventures of two sisters descended from the famous Brothers Grimm.

NieceAr: A 15 year-old superstar. She's an athlete, an accomplished singer and a brilliant student. I'm going to make my life easier and buy her the same kind of A&F shirt I got for NieceS. These girls are not related, thank goodness.

NieceL: Sister to NieceAr. A 12 year-old girl with an extraordinary brain and a great singing voice. I'm stumped! Help me out here, people. She'll be Bat Mitzvahed in June 2007, and we'll get her an iPod Nano then.

NephewE: The E-Man is 9.5 years old and brother of NieceAr and NieceL. Also beyond brilliant and reminds me a lot of Wizard, although less mature. He's getting Battleship Command, which looked great in the store. However, the reviews on Amazon are less than stellar. Oh well, I hope he likes it. He and his brother will share the new "Over The Hedge" DVD.

NephewJ: Brother of E-man and the two sisters, is almost 8 years old. He's just a few months older than Wild Thing. He is also a brilliant child, but I don't know him as well. I figure he'll like what WT likes. I got him the new "Cars" DVD.

NieceAl: Is almost 15 years-old. She's cousin to NieceAr (and sibs) and is three months younger than her. This one is a completely different child. An average student, an avid theater buff, a sweet child. I'm thinking of getting her a shirt from A&F, too, although she's not really into clothes. I may have to email her older sister for ideas.

FriendA: Another 15 year-old, a boy who's the son of my BFF. Another brilliant talented kid. He just had a birthday, so the iTunes gift card I just bought will be his b-day present. No idea what to get him for Hanukkah. This kid has everything, but he's also a sports nut. Any ideas?

FriendE: Sister of FriendA. She's a 9 year-old girl, who's a real tomboy. I got her the same set of Sisters Grimm books I bought for NieceR.

And then there are my own children, who did not receive Hanukkah presents from us last year. Why? Because they weren't taking care of their things. Because the younger two destroyed stuff in the house and ruined toys. Because Wizard was going through a horrendous lie-and-manipulate stage and was intolerable. I wasn't going to buy them presents again this year, because WineGuy bitches that the boys "have too much stuff, don't take care of anything, don't need any more crap" etc. However, WineGuy's mother called and instructed me to buy presents for the boys and send here the bill. What to do ... what to do.

What are the children you know getting for the holidays?

2 comments:

Sock Girl said...

Well... not sure what they're getting but Dolittle wants Designer’s World as her holiday gift, and I would like to find something that could be played with that has a Curious George theme for Rainbow. (Haven't been able to find much game-wise though). Both girls are into Webkinz too (both the stuffed and on-line verison) so that might be a thought. Still planning. Still planning.

Alto2 said...

A great idea! I'll see what I can find.