Last Minute Gifts

Christmas is quickly approaching and I still have one gift yet to get. Then I will be done shopping and ready for the fun associated with this wintry holiday. The gift is for my oldest son who will be heading off to college next year. I have finally decided what to get my son but, it was a difficult task.

When my kids were all young, my wife and I used to go for quantity when it came to Christmas gifts. It didn't matter that most of the gifts were quickly broken and discarded. When kids are young, they just want to open gifts and lots of them. Then there came a point when we decided to shift from quantity to quality. We had one requirement: the gift needed to last for at least a year. It was tough shopping for gifts that were meaningful, useful, and long lasting. However each of my kids still have those gifts from that monumental Christmas.

Since then we have tried to get things that will mean something but also be used. My youngest daughter has gotten me some nice sweaters that I constantly wear during cold weather (I even have one on today). Sometimes we have gotten the kids ski equipment, which gets used a lot. This year, that is what my two youngest kids have gotten. They already know about them because tomorrow is the first ski race of the season and they need the new skis and boots. It will make for a somewhat anti-climactic Christmas morning, but they are fine with that.

This brings me back to my oldest son. What do I get him? He is no longer racing and so he doesn't really need anything relating to skiing. He is going off to college shortly and so anything he gets will need to be small or it might get left home.

To help pick out his gift, I leveraged the Internet. I did a search for "college packing list" and got one or two ideas. But I doubt he really wants bed sheets for Christmas. I looked into a new computer but have already decided he is getting my current laptop when I replace it sometime in June (it is a sweet MacBook that I am very reluctant to part with). In the end, I decided on something that is perfect. Unfortunately, he reads this BLOG and so I can't go into too many details. However, he will be very happy on Christmas morning.