I went holiday shopping the other day at Target. I love the option of buying toys,lawn furniture and Tide all at the same time. I went to the Barbie aisle wanting to see what the old broad was up to. Barbie is always into new things...She is up for any adventure. Heck she should be on Valtrex she's so friggen adventurous. I saw Nothing new...no new campers no great job... Barbie for has had her pulse on the hopes and wishes of little girls for decades. Just last year I bought a wheel chair Barbie. (she could have used one of those back in the 60's before her knees bent.) It was kinda routine. Barbie dentist, Barbie surfer, Barbie on roller blades,Barbie Princess and Barbie Bride. Kinda the same old thing. I also noticed Barbie usually got one side of an asile all to herself and today it was almost half of its normal size. I turned my head and saw the New girl on the block.. and she was working it baby.....She NOW had an entire side of the aisle all to herself... Its the Bratz dolls. These dolls look like little Ho's They look like Britneys' and Christianas', ....sluttly cousins. Bratz have heads 2 x the size of their body. Full make-up,and lips bigger than Angelina Jolie. They are scarier than finding your 9 year olds first thong in the wash basket. I'm sure if you take her clothes off she has implants,a thong and a Brazilian...I hope batteries are included for her vibrator. She is outselling Barbie 2 to 1 I was told by a sales clerk.
I walked over to the electronics department to buy my son a game for his game cube. $79 dollars?? Is that for real. Its not that I'm cheap....its that I cant wrap my brain around a toy for $79 bucks. So I rationalize. If I buy him a board game it means a play date...so he can play it. Which means because all his friends moms work...I will have to pick up the kid. I will probably have to make the kid lunch. Then I will have to tell my son after I drive the kid home 3 x to put the game away. Then after stepping on a piece of the game in bare feet and jumping in pain I will give up and I will clean up the mess myself. My son will play the game 4 more times and it will eventually wind up in a garage sale where I will sell it for 50 cents. If I get him the $79 game...He can play it himself, no pieces to clean up...no play date no garage sale....Worse case...It will wind up on ebay?? I decide to tell his grandmother that I found out just what he wants.....and that I will pick it up for her. She is thrilled and thanks me for being so thoughtful. Done.
I walk over to small appliances. I want to buy my sons math tutor a gift. We are also friends who have known each other for over 10 yrs and I love her. I found a great new product a few months ago....Its the Home Cafe Coffee system and it makes a fantastic single cup of coffee in 45 seconds. Best of all there is no clean up. You use pods and when your done toss them. I love it. I used to buy coffee out at Dunkin Donuts on the way home just to avoid the mess of making a pot. The only thing better than finding a great new thing is to share it with a friend. I think that's why I worked in advertising. I saw my friend last Monday and gave her the gift and she cried. It wasn't the gift itself that she was crying over,she told me. It was.... that I had gone out and thought of her and wanted to get her something she would love. It was really the best gift giving experience I have had in a long time. I was one of those moments that giving really was better than receiving. I like to give a gift that the person truly wants and wouldn't give to themselves. Best of all I got to see her reaction.
I like to go to the post office and get letters from kids to Santa. I read a bunch of them and sure there were kids looking for i pods. There are also letters asking Santa to bring their mom, a warm winter coat...and new underwear for their bother who is afraid to wear Spiderman underpants with another kids name magic marker-ed on the back to school because the other kids will know they came from good will. I stood in the post office crying. PMS.... Another card was from a girl asking Santa for new clothes that she had gotten fat and nothing fit her. Before I mailed my gift of some cute clothes in her correct size. I wrote a note as Misses Clause and told the girl to love herself and that I understood, we Claus's all have to struggle with our weight. My gift I wish I could have given her was self esteem.
I never have been good at receiving gifts.. I often don't like what I get and if I do I feel awkward . I remember getting a gift when I was 9. It was a Barrel of Monkeys game. I hated it. It was cheap and I hated the ads on TV. I hated that it was just a bunch of plastic "S-e's" with monkey faces on them. I cried and cried so much so that my parents wouldn't let me have anymore presents till the last night of Chanukah. I am an ingrate.
The best gifts I have received have involved doing something with someone. When I was 10 I went to a special lunch with my mother. Mom took me out of school... a gift in itself and we went to lunch at Lord and Taylor's, The Bird Cage resturant. They had watercress finger sandwiches and all the ladies wore hats and gloves. I still remember everything 3 decades later. I hated the food, but on that day I knew in my gut that I wouldn't grow up to be a hat and glove kinda gal. The fact that I got some special time with my mom is what made the gift so special and memorable. To this day the first really nice hot day in spring I pull my kids out of school and take them to the beach. I might take my son out of school early next week and take him to see A Series of Unfortunate Events movie.I think he would like that. Best of all it wont wind up on ebay.
To all of you ... I wish you all wonderful holiday and much health and success in the New Year.
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