Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Holiday gifts: hits and misses?

DS 8...I can't tell if they are hits or misses...he had a blast all of the few hours yesterday and few hours today that it took him to put together a 100.00 lego kit (Ninjago) and a smaller $40.00 kit (also Ninjago). And the big kit supposedly came with two instruction books and he either misplaced the second one or it wasn't in the box so he calmly took my iPad and followed the directions from the 2nd book loaded online.

He still has the Lego leaning tower of Pisa to put together from the architecture line.

Both boys appear to like everything they got. DS8 is the only one still getting "toys".

DS7 hit: Robosapiens. I saw him hug it. If only it wasn't so loud! Snap Circuits and Risk, also hits. Football helmet and jersey, big hits.

DS3 hits: All sorts of emergency vehicles.

re: the Rainbow Loom. DS HAD to have it and used his own money to get one a few months ago. We both found it very non-intuitive and frustrating at first. I finally found YouTube video that clicked for me, as it did for him. Since then, he's made several bracelets and rings. I told him about a "meet-up" class being held at our local Michael's store for $5. He said "I would rather save the money and watch the YouTube videos."

This was a gift for me, not DD9, but she and I played Forbidden Desert today, and it was great. Very, very tense - we won, but the outcome was in doubt to the very last card, and we would have lost if it had lasted even one more turn (or if we had not started on Novice for our first game). I recommend this one highly!

DD6 usually gets three gifts, one from Mom, one from Dad & one from Santa. And we all had hits! Snap Circuits, the game Rush Hour & a telescope.

Re. Rainbow Loom - this is the first 'normal' thing that my DD has been into and we got one to help her relate to peers about 3 months ago. It was difficult at first with bands snapping and pegs getting missed. YouTube saved the day, the ability to pause/replay has been a godsend. Another cool thing is that many videos are rated by difficulty. After a couple of advanced patterns were mastered DD grew by leaps and bounds - she now makes bands and charms for others that aren't as handy with it and the other week even designed her own charm that looks like a flower in a pot.

It has turned out to be a great device for building self confidence and resilience. The latter because the frustration when the pattern was almost complete and a band snapped or it was realized that a critical peg had been missed was initially felt with extreme intensity. Her self confidence has improved to the point where she is just takes these setbacks in her stride now. Hopefully some of this will transfer into other spheres.

We got that one too, and have enjoyed it a great deal.

We are also having a Scrabble renaissance, so lots of gifts are on hold while DS11 tries to beat me. He's close.

DeeDee

DS4 hits: Magnatiles, wristwatch, SmartLab Contraption Lab, SmartLab Demolition Lab, Gymnic hop ball, camera and Vtech Velociraptor. I don't think we really have any misses.

Risk also seems to be a big hit. He talked me into playing today... that is one frustrating game, for me, that is... he won, of course.

Our family doesn't really observe Christmas, per se, but we do exchange very minor gifts (stocking-stuffer level stuff, really) just to show appreciation for one another.

DD14's favorite of these items was a Doctor Who watch, but she also got a pair of gloves that actually fits her long and very slender hands, new earbuds, the score for Les Mis, and a pocket knife from a friend. I also made her a (stranded) knit hat, which she likes very much, and got her some new sweatpants for walking/running the dog. Stylish rain boots. Electronics textbook. Carbon paper.

This fall/winter she has also enjoyed an entry level classical guitar, a Dremel tool, and a variable temperature soldering iron with a bunch of pyrography tips. Those things would have been Christmas gifts in another kind of household, I suppose. She also is getting a competition target .22, which is a pretty big deal... but it's not a horse, so we're ahead of the game with something that can be locked up and doesn't eat. LOL.

She did not seem to much appreciate the spritz cookie press or the cookbook that I got her recently. I'm not sure when she plans to learn to cook, but it's clearly not in the present.