Image via WikipediaYesterday, my wife needed to go shopping for a denim jean skirt. She had been having a difficult time finding anything she liked at the stores near our house, so we decided to head out to the Arundel Mills Outlet Center about a half hour drive away from our house. She had already told me that she had been in one store this week that was already playing Christmas music. Earlier in the week, we had dinner at the Red Robin in the Bowie Town Center shopping center, and they had lights and decorations up. Well, Arundel Mills went one better. Santa Claus was already set up in the mall and visiting with the kids. It isn't even Thanksgiving yet!
I had already started to think about what I wanted to get my son this year for Christmas. Now, I guess it won't be long before I have to start giving it some serious thought. I am already done with shopping for my wife's gift. Originally, I was going to get her a new Android phone on Christmas Eve, however, she recently had her phone stolen so she got it early. It is still possible that Santa may have a small surprise for her Christmas morning.
Shopping for my wife is easy. My son is another matter. It is complicated by the fact that he is away at school the majority of the time. I think if you add up all of his breaks through the year, he is home a little more than two months a year. Currently, my son has two old console game systems hooked to the television, a Playstation 2 and a Nintendo Game Cube. Neither one of them works very well and they no longer make games for either system.
The father within me wants to get my son a new game system this Christmas. Each game system that I would consider getting for him would end up costing me $200 or more. The practical side of me thinks that is too much money to spend on something that would get such little use throughout the course of the year.
There are a lot of things that I could get for him that he would be able to get a little more use from during the course of the year. He loves music, so I could get him some CDs that he could take to school with him. He also likes a lot of shows like iCarly and Spongebob Squarepants that are available on DVD. He also breaks his portable CD players frequently, so that is another option.
Still, I get a bit sad when he is home and he can't play Madden football or hockey because his game system no longer works. Help me out here. Which father should win out; the practical or the indulgent?
I would go with the game system, if it's in your budget. It would bring him such pleasure when he's home, and you are there to supervise more, when the CD players just go down a black hole (we have a cell phone black hole... now he has to buy his own, and they seem to last marginally longer before being lost)
ReplyDeleteIf he has a way to get occasional spending money he may be able to buy a CD himself, but saving for a game system is probably out of his reach.
Just my 2 cents.
Hey... now if you can help me pick something for my Josh... hahahaha
ReplyDeleteI am getting real close to having the money to buy a game system, now to decide which one. Every time I get five $1 bills I put them in a coffee can. I have almost $100 for that. In early December, I should be able to cash out a little over $100 from various sponsored posts.
ReplyDeleteHe does have a job at school, though they have trouble getting him to go sometimes. He has been able to buy himself a couple CDs at school
Why wouldn't a gameboy or something like that be an option? Then he could take it to school and bring it home. I know its small and could possibly get broken, but this is one thing I would get the warranty on. Just a suggestion.....then do what the loving dad inside of you really wants to do.
ReplyDeleteJust thought of a problem with my not so brilliant suggestion....the games are really small so might get lost....maybe not an option after all.
ReplyDeleteI think the fun you see him have with his game system will more than pay for the time it sits.