Christmas Time!

Here we are at the time of year when children (and adults) expect presents. In light of my financial strain of travelling, I told my son he could pick three presents that would be really important to him.

First thing he tells me is he wants to have another gameboy advance and the cord to connect the old one and the new one together. Then he wants the pokemon game Leaf Green. I say okay simply because I intend to go to game stop and get them used.

Second he tells me he wants an mp3 player that will play the radio. I am not sure about this one, but I say okay thinking I can probably get a used one somewhere.

Then, he tells me his last choice. I couldn't help it, I had to laugh. He wants a laptop with internet access and games on it. I did have to tell him to pick something different as I cannot afford that. We talked about the different kinds of games that you can play with a dvd player and perhaps that would be okay. He does agree that some of the games sound fun. Especially the pokemon game (do you see a theme with the games going on??). So I relay this info to my family members that want to get my son a little something for christmas.

Then I ask my son what he wants to ask Santa for. He starts to tell me that maybe Santa can bring the laptop. I do some quick thinking and tell him even if Santa brings him a laptop, I cannot afford the games and internet access, so it would be useless. Perhaps he would like to think about it and decide what else he would like. Then he goes back to his dad's and I have not been able to really talk to him too much, and have not had any opportunity to influence the Santa wish list.

Well, last night my son told me that he had decided. I wait with bated breath as he leads up to it. He wants a nintendo ds. With the pokemon game diamond and pearl. We talk about if he gets that from Santa does he really need the additional gameboy. The way he says his response of yes tells me he thinks that was a dumb question. I try to talk him out of one or the other, but to no avail. I then tell him that pokemon diamond and pearl are two separate games. He argues with me at first until I tell him that I can see it in a sale ad and they are two different games. That's when he tells me that he will ask Santa for the ds and one of the games and my sister can just buy the other one. I laugh and ask him if he thinks his aunt really wants to buy it for him. Yes he tells me. So I did end up calling my sister to see if she is up for buying it.

Now on Wednesday I am going to go to Meijer to get the nintendo ds because they have a deal right now where you can get a $10 gift card when you buy a ds. So the gift card will go to my sister so she can buy the extra game. Talk about an overload of electronics at christmas.

I would normally have told my son no way for all of these electronic type presents or just let him pick one. However, since he is stuck at his dad's I have decided to go ahead and get them. Last year for christmas he asked Santa to come home, so I had to pick randomly to get something from Santa. Then I find out that no one at his dad's or grandma's bothered to get him anything from Santa. In fact if I understood him correctly, his dad did not get him anything and his grandma did not get him anything that he asked for. She just got random presents. My son was really bothered by the "fact that Santa did not bring him a present" at his dad's so that I had to come up with the story that Santa knew that was not his "real home" and so he brought the present to me to give to him. I am sure that this year will be the same, so I am making sure to get him what he asks for from Santa. Thank goodness for my food stockpile so I do not have to worry about groceries while I pay for the nintendo ds and game.

I also have to find a bell. It has to be a special bell. Just like in the Polar Express, if you can hear the bell, you still believe. I have gotten him a bell from Santa for the last three years and will have to find a bell that is just right. Because of course we can still hear it.

I am also going to dig out my little christmas tree and some decorations because my son wants to have a tree. Since we will be at the hotel, my plan is to put it together and decorate it, then just wrap it up in a big bag and transport it all put up. One less thing to worry about trying to get done in the few hours that we have. We can concentrate on the christmas shopping with my mom and playing when we get done with that. I am looking forward to the weekend. I will update when I get back about the trip. Maybe we will even see Santa while we are down there!