Friday, July 8, 2011

Games of Our Childhood

My youngest grandson will be 9 next week.  We share the same birthday so, when I lived close, we shared theme parties of Winnie the Pooh, Dora & Diago, and Spiderman.  Terry has been having an email discussion about Birthday presents with his Mom.  She had mentioned that because baseball play offs were again that night,  our 10 year old grandson had run 27 laps, out side,  around the house in hopes it would make him run faster for his game.  They won, so I guess it worked.  The final game is tonight.

It gets more and more difficult to buy "things" for the boys.  They have all the games out now.  They each have a Nintendo DS and a bunch of games, Rock Band lives in the family room along with the Wii..  One has a real guitar and the other has drums.  They have the outdoor toys.  Powerwing scooters, bikes, snowboards, skate boards,   a full  cemented basketball court in their backyard.


What's a Nana to do?  I used to buy them matching clothes but I promised myself I had to stop doing that when they turned 10, which, one did in April.  (But they looked sooo cute in them.)

This was when they were 4 and 5.  Pa  makes sure they have been wearing University of Michigan apparel since birth. 
Now, too, I have to mail everything so I have to consider that.  So, it is becoming Gift Card time.  The 10 year old reader, Birthday boy, got Barnes & Noble.  Mom suggested the next be Target.  I'm not thrilled with gift cards, but I'm kind of stuck.

 I don't remember getting big birthday presents or any presents, but I'm sure I did.  I don't remember having Birthday celebrations.  Or even a cake, but, I must have.  I remember as a teen making my own cake.  At 9 and 10, I think I was still playing Candyland and later progressed to Life.   We never owned  Life.  I remember wanting it, but you just didn't go out and buy a game "for no reason".  Money was tight.  I played jacks,  jumped rope and collected marbles.  I did get my Barbie for Christmas when I was 10 and I still have her.   She is missing a pinkie finger because I let Daughter  # 1 play with her when she was little and teething evidently.

I remember getting Daughter #1 an Etch-a-Sketch for a Birthay or Christmas present at 7 years old.  She turned it around and over and finally asked, "How do you turn it on?"  I laughed because, funny as that is , she had one of the first hand held video games, that I'm aware of.  "Safari"  It was very basic.  3 skill levels of capture an animal in a cage.  slow - medium - fast.  That's it. 



 My daughter's childhood gifts ran the gamut of boom boxes, Cabbage Patch dolls, TVs for their bedrooms, VCRs and Cd players.  These were the first electronic children.  I know Daughter #2 had to have a Scientific Calculator in high school.  That thing was over $100.00 then, in 2000, and  probably $9.99 now. 

Makes me wonder what's next.

8 comments:

Sweet Tea said...

How cute are those boys?!! Love the matching clothes though I can see they feel they are too old for them now...Now that our granddolls are 8,10, and 12 I have to always ask for a Suggestion List for their birthdays. And, lots of times they want a gift card to a certain store. Not so much fun to give, but they LOVE them.

Kathy said...

Oh the times we live in! Our "grands" are still pretty young, and already, I feel unsure of what to buy for b'days and Christmas. Both have lots of toys and things--one has an excess of everything, due to being first grandchild on both sides of the family! What's a grandma to do???

I enjoyed your comment today about your hubby's hunting adventures! LOL I think our men must think alike!!! The question is...who will win the battle over the pears???

Feisty Crone said...

They are adorable! My grandchildren love money and gift cards. "We like to buy our own gifts, Grandma," they tell me.

Far Side of Fifty said...

My youngest grandson will be ten in the fall. All my babies have grown up!
I think those scientific calculators are still expensive and some schools require them. ( My daughter was complaining about the price too)
We do some cash and some money for their savings accounts. It seems to work well and they think for a long time how they will spend their cash..I am not a good shopper so it works just fine for me:)

Anonymous said...

monkey bars, tire swing,digging in the dirt, and exploring in the woods and apple orchard. all free.
yfs

mary said...

I have to say, the oldest young man looks a lot like his Grandma!

Intense Guy said...

Such charming and handsome grandsons!!

I've got nothing to help you - I have to nephews that are sophomore and freshman in collage and not a clue as to what someone of that generation wants... it as if I was never that age!!

Daughter #2 said...

I kid you not, that scientific calculator is sitting on a table next to me. I was going to lend it to a friend for her college algebra class. I got a lot of use out of that. I remember our 'large' presents coming at Christmas. Our birthday presents were games/barbies/etc. This Aunt buys those boys books, books, and more books.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...