Life Past 30

The holiday season is quickly approaching.  I don’t usually start thinking about the holidays until after Halloween because anytime before that is too early, but that is my opinion.  Growing up, Christmas was my favorite holiday because school was out for a longer period of time and I received lots of presents.  As I got older, I found myself concentrating less on the presents and more on the warmth of being surrounded by family and friends and having a good time. 

Now that I have a daughter, who will be 11 in a few months, Christmas has become an almost painful holiday for me.  It wasn’t always so because anything pleased her when she was really young.  Right now, I can picture myself grimacing at the checkout counter purchasing some overpriced electronic gadget or loopy video game.  You see, my daughter does not play with Barbie dolls, hasn’t since she was four.  No, she has joined the throngs of children today who prefer anything expensive that beeps, talks, creates, or allows them to do the same.  When I asked her what she wanted for Christmas, she calmly replied, “A laptop, a 160GB iPod, and anything else electronic”, “What about those cool board games we saw or the microscope set you can use for school?”, I asked.  I got the strangest look.   

Of course, my mind instantly thought of how simple Christmas was when she was two years old and happy about everything she received.  It’s only gotten worse since her hands turned to cups at age six.  Yes, they really did turn into cups and I can prove it.  I didn’t believe my parents when they told me MY hands had turned to cups, but lo and behold, it happened to my daughter.  When your children’s hands begin curving into rounded cups, you start spending more money.  Sad, but true.   

She’ll get an MP3 player, but it won’t be the 160GB iPod.  The laptop is out of the question, but I’m sure I will be able to find some interesting (and inexpensive) gadget that will capture and hold her attention.  I’ll just let her borrow my iPod.