angel tree
I'm probably the only person in the world who doesn't get so much the warm and fuzzies from shopping for Angel Tree presents, but views it as a stress-inducing herculean task.
Here's what's listed on mine this year:
* winter coat, size 10-12
* Connect-4 game
* legos
* pokemon cards
First one, cool. That's easy enough.
Connect-4? Hey, I played that as a kid. Who thought kids these days would still like Connect-4? Oh. Wait. There are different versions now? Oh man. What to get?? If all this lil' guy's getting is the stuff I pick up, I want to make sure it's stuff he wants. But how to know?
Well, y'know, one of them involved stuff shooting little doo-hickies around. And dammit, I used to be into pretty much anything that had shootable parts. So I went with that. I hope that's what he wanted.
Legos? Legos? That's it? C'mon, throw me a bone here! I don't think they have Bucket O' Legos anymore, 'cept for like the big jumbo little kid ones. So, I wind up getting a bunch of mid-size kits, selecting a cross-section of the biggest line, but trying to keep in mind the need for cross-pollination.
Y'know, so I get a Star wars kit, but I have no idea if he even likes Star Wars. But I find an Ewok base kit, and I'm all like, "Oh, if he's more into the castles or fantasty or whatever, the Ewoks can stand in for bugbears!"
I think actually mumbled "ooh, bugbears" while I was looking at it. I'm a weirdo, it's fine.
So I get like 5 kits. This is already getting a little out of hand.
Now it's on to Pokemon. 1) I had no idea those were still the hottness. 2) I have no f'ing clue about anything involving them.
I was able to gather that there are different expansions, kinda like Magic had back in the day. But are they compatible with one another? Are you supposed to get a starter set? If he's already got a starter set, would that be super lame?
So, decided to use a very comprehensive method of choosing what to buy, by determining which packaging I thought looked the mintest. Got a big...set...thing, in a metal box, and another big set that had some kinda of action figure included. I used to love stuff in metal boxes. Rather, I loved metal boxes, and the stuff that came in them. Here's hoping this kids the same.
So yeah. I was all stressed out by the end, largely for the parents of this guy. I dunno. Somehow, and I know it's not right thinking, but somehow I end up feeling saddest for them. I'm sure they want to give their kids something nice on Christmas. I hope I made choices his mom or dad can be proud of, y'know?
So yeah. All stress.
No warm feelings.
That last part might be a lie.
Here's what's listed on mine this year:
* winter coat, size 10-12
* Connect-4 game
* legos
* pokemon cards
First one, cool. That's easy enough.
Connect-4? Hey, I played that as a kid. Who thought kids these days would still like Connect-4? Oh. Wait. There are different versions now? Oh man. What to get?? If all this lil' guy's getting is the stuff I pick up, I want to make sure it's stuff he wants. But how to know?
Well, y'know, one of them involved stuff shooting little doo-hickies around. And dammit, I used to be into pretty much anything that had shootable parts. So I went with that. I hope that's what he wanted.
Legos? Legos? That's it? C'mon, throw me a bone here! I don't think they have Bucket O' Legos anymore, 'cept for like the big jumbo little kid ones. So, I wind up getting a bunch of mid-size kits, selecting a cross-section of the biggest line, but trying to keep in mind the need for cross-pollination.
Y'know, so I get a Star wars kit, but I have no idea if he even likes Star Wars. But I find an Ewok base kit, and I'm all like, "Oh, if he's more into the castles or fantasty or whatever, the Ewoks can stand in for bugbears!"
I think actually mumbled "ooh, bugbears" while I was looking at it. I'm a weirdo, it's fine.
So I get like 5 kits. This is already getting a little out of hand.
Now it's on to Pokemon. 1) I had no idea those were still the hottness. 2) I have no f'ing clue about anything involving them.
I was able to gather that there are different expansions, kinda like Magic had back in the day. But are they compatible with one another? Are you supposed to get a starter set? If he's already got a starter set, would that be super lame?
So, decided to use a very comprehensive method of choosing what to buy, by determining which packaging I thought looked the mintest. Got a big...set...thing, in a metal box, and another big set that had some kinda of action figure included. I used to love stuff in metal boxes. Rather, I loved metal boxes, and the stuff that came in them. Here's hoping this kids the same.
So yeah. I was all stressed out by the end, largely for the parents of this guy. I dunno. Somehow, and I know it's not right thinking, but somehow I end up feeling saddest for them. I'm sure they want to give their kids something nice on Christmas. I hope I made choices his mom or dad can be proud of, y'know?
So yeah. All stress.
No warm feelings.
That last part might be a lie.