It’s that time of the year again. It’s the thing I stress on every year. What do I get my niece for her birthday? Should I get her some clothes, a board game, or maybe a Nintendo Wii game? At this point I have no idea.
Every year in October I wrack my brain trying to find the perfect birthday gift for my eldest niece. For me, finding the right birthday gift is more stressful than April 15th (Tax Day).
Let me tell you about my niece. She will be 12 years old this year. But don’t let her age fool you. She acts much more mature than others her age. She talks and acts like she’s 25. She has always been advanced for her age and her interests reflect her maturity. When she was three, she wasn’t into princesses or dolls. She was into dinosaurs. I’m not talking about Barney or Rex from Toy Story. I’m talking about the real scientific ones like Tyrannosaurus Rex, Stegosaurus, Triceratops, and others I can’t pronounce. No Belle, Ariel or Jasmine, at age five. This was the year of Sailor Moon and Japanese anime. At nine, she was into animals. Not just because they are cute and cuddly. She was interested animal habitat and behavior, kind of like a Jane Goodall. A typical 12 year old today is interested in the Jonas Brothers or Miley Cyrus. These acts are too corny and passé for her. Today as a preteen 12 year old, it’s all about Sudoku and puzzles.
My quest every year is to get the perfect birthday gift for my eldest niece. But every year I feel like I have failed miserably in my mission. Why I am I trying so hard to find a silly gift for my 12 year old niece? Because every year I seek to find the prized gift that will exude a gleeful reaction from my niece when she opens it.
Whenever she opens a gift, she takes a quick glance at it, mutters a mandatory “thank you”, and moves onto something else. No smile. No joy. No surprise reaction. Finding the lost city of Atlantis would probably be easier than finding a gift that’ll make her smile.
She’s different from my other niece, her sister. My other niece loves anything given to her. Perhaps that’s why I get a kick out of watching her open presents. Her ecstatic, delighted reaction when she unveils her present makes me feel like I made her day and I feel like the best auntie in the world.
My husband says I shouldn’t stress over a gift to a child. But to me it’s more than a gift. I want it to be something meaningful, something she will love and appreciate. I want her to know that Auntie Michelle knows her and her interests. Perhaps it’s my selfish way of feeling appreciated. Don’t get me wrong. I am not trying to buy her love. We have a great relationship. My husband and I are the aunt and uncle she hangs out with the most with even when her other aunts and uncles are around. I guess for me, gift giving is another way of showing I care. I like to put thought into the gifts I give. So every year when she snubs my gift, I feel rejected and unsuccessful.
Here’s another challenge in my gift quest. I have a large number of gift givers I have to contend with. My niece has six uncles and five aunts and a plethora of cousins and other relatives. And that’s only on her dad’s side. My husband and I are the only aunt and uncle from her mom’s side. So among the mountain of gifts from all of these relatives, I want mine to stand out. I want her to say, “Wow! Look at what Auntie Michelle gave me!” I want her to know I know and care about her. Every year I feel like I am fighting an uphill battle for the perfect gift that will stand out.
Because there are so many relatives, sometimes there are multiples of the same gift. When she was three, I got her the newest Land Before Time movie, however, three other relatives got her the same movie. I have since tried to go the personalized route since her name is unique. I got her a personalized fleece Disney blanket with her name embroidered in the corner with matching pajamas. Those were quickly opened and tossed with the pile of other opened gifts with the mandatory mutter of a “thank you”.
I had a theory that maybe she actually likes the gift but doesn’t show much emotion when she’s opening the gift because she’s shy. I threw that theory out the window when I noticed a bunch of unwrapped, unopened gifts from years past in her closet.
I could possibly throw money at the situation and give her cash or a gift card just to meet the birthday and Christmas obligation. But that is not my style. To me, it’s a cop out and shows you either don’t know the recipient or that you didn’t put much time or thought into the gift. And not to mention, she doesn’t like to spend money. She saves all her money and doesn’t spend it on anything, not even a piece of candy.
She is a thinker and likes to do puzzles like Sudoku, so I figure I’ll get her some kind of Wii puzzle game this year. I had a hard time finding the right game with all those large gaming sites, however, I happened to come across a great Wii game page that had rankings of the top Wii puzzle games. I think I’m going to go with one of the top rated games there. Thank goodness I found this site. Let’s just hope she likes it. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
Maybe I will actually get the right gift this year.
This is where I went to pick her game: http://top-ten-wii-games.com
Top Ten Wii Puzzle Games Michelle Hagita resides in Los Angeles, California. In her spare time she enjoys sewing, cooking, writing, reading, and video games. Top Ten Wii GamesArticle Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/art-and-entertainment-articles/my-nieces-birthday-do-i-get-her-a-wii-game-1514832.html