What do you get the kid who has everything?

Well, no kid has everything, but let me pose the following scenario to you. I have no doubt that many readers will be familiar with it--

Dick and Jane get lots of presents at Christmas.  Their parents go all out, as do both sets of grandparents along with assorted aunts and uncles. There's not room for everything under the tree; presents have to be piled on the kitchen table as well. Christmas Eve, or Christmas morning, the unwrapping gets underway, and two or three hours after starting, Dick and Jane are still at it. Paper and ribbon and bows everywhere; the place looks like it's been hit by a hurricane.

It's hard to buy for kids like this. First of all, there's the risk of duplication, especially if you go after this year's "trendy" toys.  But on a deeper plane, suppose that you feel like you want to get them something that's special, amongst all those other "special" things (read: special junk)....

Answer: Books. When the toys have lost their novelty a few months down the road, and joined the vast array of rarely-played-with toys that populate Dick and Jane's rooms, the books will still be there, beckoning. Well, maybe. This strategy probably works better with younger kids who are just learning to read, than it will with older kids who have discovered the allure of the video game. But even if the books go neglected, you will know that you gave it your best shot, bestowing upon them a time-honored, non-passive form of entertainment that enriches both mind and spirit. As opposed to glitzy crap made in Chinese sweatshops.

There's the added advantage here that you can, with some judicious shopping around in used bookstores, pick up like-new kids books at a substantial savings over the big retailers. Unless you think that spending more money on brand new books means you love Dick and Jane more, that God abhors Christmas thrift, or some other crazy idea along those general lines.

Another idea is art supplies. Most kids like to draw and color, so getting them crayons, colored pens and pencils, art paper, etc., is never a waste.

The First day of Winter

I'm an outspoken person, so by all means, take the following with a grain of salt...

It will officially be winter in a few hours. I had to go out on this near-winter's day, because I needed a few groceries and a pair of pants. I expected it would be bad out there, and my expectations were, in fact, exceeded. It was horrible out there. The traffic was horrible, the stores were packed, and there seemed to be an inordinate number of cranky people around. My brother (who went with me) said, "I have a feeling it's going to be one of those days...."

People blowing through the roundabouts and cutting others off like the bold "yield" warning on the pavement had been erased. Others punching the accelerator to make it through the yellow light at intersections. Cutting others off, when perhaps on another day, they might have taken their foot off the gas and given someone an opening. A line of cars, stretching from Bakerview all the way to Bennett Road. Parking lots packed and the stores crowded with masses of complete strangers, shoulder to shoulder, each "safe" inside his/her insulated little world. Frowning. Yessir, I took an inventory. A lot of frowning and furrowed brows out there.

But maybe it's always that way. I'll have to do a post-Xmas comparison.

I'm glad I've backed off from this sort of thing, this"surfing the fray," for the most part. Because anyone who's out in that on a daily basis...well, I can understand why y'all feel like crap at Christmastime.

Not that I endorse simulated cheer*. But there's an old Vietnamese saying: "Ornament is for joy." Why are you doing it, if there's no joy in it? But more importantly, what is life for, if not to enjoy?

One thing is certain: I'll not go near a retail establishment, save maybe Starbucks for a cup of coffee, from now until Christmas is over. It's a jungle out there.

P.S. - You erratic drivers - take a chill pill. You're a danger to yourself and others.

*Actually, I do endorse simulated cheer, for its therapeutic value, but not when it's employed simply as a "veneer."