Alpacas! (Or llamas, I suppose, it's difficult to tell, but "alpacas!" is more fun to say.) Imagine my chagrin when I found that it didn't fit well. Unless skin-tight arms with a baggy, flying-squirrel look to the torso is the next trend.
I was out with Ken doing some minimal Christmas shopping. This is the time of year when I'm most grateful for being Jewish. The only people I have to buy for are those who inconsiderately have their birthdays in December, and the underprivileged kids who will be the recipients of the toy drive at work.
Although it's technically called a "toy drive", we've been told to provide appropriate gifts for teens and tweens, who may be a little too old for toys per se. Last year I got a palette of nail polishes and another of lip glosses for the girls. This year I wanted to get something for the guys. It's difficult, because what can I successfully pick out for a 12-16 year-old boy?*
My first thought was a cool watch, but then I remembered that kids don't wear watches anymore. Don't be such a square, grandma. Alright then, how about a cap, in the style of LL Cool Joe? But when I was confronted with a wall of caps to choose from, I realized I didn't have a clue which one to pick. And trust me, I remember enough about middle school to know that the wrong cap would be worse than no gift at all.
I finally settled on a couple of wall calendars. Sponge Bob, for the slightly younger fellow, and Dream Cars for the cool high-schooler. Ken tried to talk me into getting the car calendar that included hot girls in bikinis. As if!
Anyway, I brought the calendars in to work today, yes, Sunday, because I'm here babysitting the place while Miguel and Estaban clamber around on ladders wielding a huge, duct-sucking hose. Everything is going pretty smoothly so far today, but I figured I'd better come in to supervise, because with this place, you never know. For example, yesterday, in addition to the duct-cleaning team, a couple of guys from building management were in here playing around with the fire alarm system. They were supposed to know what they were doing, but next thing I knew all the bells were ringing, and three minutes later I could hear sirens whooping as a big fire truck pulled up outside our front doors. I'm pretty sure that wasn't supposed to happen. Except that it's my workplace, so of course there's a certain amount of guaranteed drama and angst. Oh well.
How's your holiday prep coming along?
*Note for Joey, and anyone else offended by gender stereotypes, yes, I know, I know. If the toy drive organizers want to give the nail polishes to a boy and the car calendar to a girl, that's fine, they can go ahead. Maybe it's better to say that I'm trying to cover all the bases, for kids of all identities and styles. Better? ;-)
10 comments:
Ah, weekend work. I remember it well. I've had gratefully few instances in the last decade, but remember well when I had to invest ALL weekends from late April to mid-June back in 1999. Fun times...fun times.
We're all but finished with the holiday thing this year. As the kids get older, the gifts become more expensive and thus fewer in number. :)
Hmmmm.. what to get teen boys... ummm... pretty easy thing there, calendar of naked women. Not really a lot of anything else on their mind at that age.
That is a great sweater!
I'm almost done shopping, thank goodness. I only have a handful of people to buy for, though.
I do not miss workplace holiday customs one single bit. Even the holiday demands overall are not favorites of mine. Often considering a switch to Judaism. There I've said it.
I found my Santa hat over the weekend so I'm good to go. Shopping won't be done until sometime next week.
DarcKnyt: Woah, 1999 was no fun for you! I usually had to work on Saturdays when I was in retail, but at least that allowed me one Sundays with friends and family.
Ron: Maybe I should have just given a gift certificate to the calendar store. They could have picked their own girlies.
Gia: Isn't it? I particularly like that the alpacas come in many colours.
Granny Annie: Are you sure? You'd have to give up bacon.
G.B.: Good luck with your shopping. You'll still be ahead of the worst last-minute crowds.
The gift giving and receiving is my least favorite part of the Christmas holiday, but I do it. :)
My favorite thing is the music and decorations.
Sorry you had to work on Saturday!
I'm sorry the sweater didn't fit. It's pretty great.
Teens are hard to shop for because they are very particular about what they will wear, use etc. I think you did a good job.
Ha ha, thanks for the shout out! Your posts aren't showing up in my reader again, it's so damn irritating! Sorry.
Actually watches are now back in fashion for kids too, as long as it's the right watch of course. And yes the wrong cap is worse than no gift at all. Are they they into snapbacks, flat brims or fitted? If it's fitted you have to know the size of their head. I'm a 7 1/8 just incase you ever think of buying me one. Ha!
What? No "a gift for every day of Hanukkah" tradition? ;)
The sweater was cute, alpacas! Yes, it's fun to say! I hate tight sleeves, too. Sorry it didn't fit!
You know, I HAVE a boy in that age range and I still don't know what to get him. This year video games won out, but for someone who you don't know if they even have a computer or game system? That would be hard. And you know what's funny? I just asked him what he would recommend, and he drew a blank, too. I was thinking along the lines of something like one of those really soft and fuzzy throw blankets, perhaps with a sports theme or gamer theme. Still, a calendar is a decent gift and I hope the boy who got it has put it to good use. :)
Oh, and think about Messianic Judaism! It's like Judaism, but with bacon if you want. ;)
*hugs*
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