I’ll take most disappointing gift to unwrap for $1000 Alex.
Next worse was a Lifesavers Candy Puzzle. The box was the size to plausibly hold 8-10 rolls of Lifesavers and covered in a glossy image of the candy. Such a let down.
(I never got a game boy at the time and I’m a little bit salty about it, but now as a parent, I understand my parents’ choice not to).
My parents got me a gameboy but the only games I had for it was Babe Pig in the City and a copy of Ducktales that was lost in the attic before they gave it to me and wasn’t found until last year.
As someone who grew up in the early 80s, I would have been gitty for this. While I enjoyed video games, my heart was listening to music. I much rather have a portable radio than a game boy at that time.
I woulda been in jr high when this came out and everyone wanted either the Sony sport (waterproof) or a discman if you had rich parents (I did not).
We got a used NES and pile of used games because a cousin worked for a rental store and they started dropping NES stock when the Super NES came out. Somehow later on someone gave us a Genesis, but that and an Apple 2e were all we had for most of the late 80s- 90s.
Oh yeah, and in 92 little kids were still all about those crappy voice recorders from home alone. My little brother was all about those for a year or so.
Sorry I didn’t mean to sound like I’m complaining. But at the time we got each system, the next generation versions had already come out and we’d missed the peak. So friends didn’t want to come over to play Mario 3 and Tetris (which were new to me at the time) when Super Mario World and Mario Kart were the current challenges.
I think my brother got the Genesis when his friend was giving it away breve he got a new N64.
They weren’t old enough to be retro yet, and I think you may be forgetting that kids can be pretty cruel about stupid shit like this. We’re stop deity has a lot of fun with these games. Even if we were never good enough to compete with the kids who’d had them longer.
I had a walkman sport. It was huge and even with the headphones plugged in, you could take a shower with it haha.
I eventually got a Genesis too. Then a Dreamcast.
I’m in my mid 40s now and I miss that feeling that when my dad came home with an walkman for me. Now I dedicate my life to constantly giving my son that same feeling! Because once he becomes an adult, it’s all downhill from there.
Man…I have a dark sense of humor, and you saying you just want to make your son happy before he becomes an adult gave me inspiration for a joke. And then I read the joke back to myself, and thought “Oh wait, if he doesn’t have a dark sense of humor this just comes off like a psychopath being an asshole…”
So instead of that joke, I’ll say you should just burst into your sons room right now, and hug them! Just go bursting in like HEY SON!!! YOUR DAD/MOM LOVES YOU, AND YOU AIN’T ESCAPING MY HUGS!!! GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE YOU BIG BALL OF INFINATE POTENTIAL!!! YOU’RE GONNA DO GREAT THINGS IN LIFE, AND I LOVE YOU!!!
And then your son would just be getting hugged, and confused, and he’d be like “uhhhhhhh…is one of us dying? What is happening right now?”
Aw dammit. See? Even without making a dark joke, I still made a different dark joke.
I’m about the same age. I remember playing with the simplest dumb things. Like the roller bearings left over from some failed engineering project. Or my dad’s old calculator with the vacuum fluorescent display. It’s tricky to instill that kind of make-do entertainment in my son when the iPad can play anything you want any moment.
Actually the trickiest thing has been teaching him to ride a bike. Our street is crazy busy and short, with no sidewalks. So we have to drive to a park or quiet neighborhood to practice. He’s almost 7 and it still hasn’t clicked. He did start really swimming (and diving) this summer though. Which has been awesome.
Haha, my mom was an accountant and I would love playing with the calculator that would dispense the paper. Would try and draw something with numbers.
My kid is 6 and he only gets to watch videos I downloaded from YouTube or movies that I downloaded from the places and put into a playlist on VLC. I do give him free reign on Spotify with the swear words removed.
As for bicycles, we live in Taipei and it’s way too dangerous to ride on the sidewalk, let alone the street. So we have to ride in the park.
I ended up paying someone to teach my kid after many failed attempts to teach on my own. After 1 class he was able to ride and after the second class he was proficient. I think the reason was my kid felt comfortable around me and if he is pushed to his limits, we don’t push him harder and he knows that. With a teacher, he just had to listen and follow the directions and take bigger risks.
Bike lessons actually makes good sense. My son has a habit of not wanting to learn from me as well (though he has turned around a little since starting first grade). Gonna look into that this spring. Thanks!
I’ll take most disappointing gift to unwrap for $1000 Alex.
Next worse was a Lifesavers Candy Puzzle. The box was the size to plausibly hold 8-10 rolls of Lifesavers and covered in a glossy image of the candy. Such a let down.
(I never got a game boy at the time and I’m a little bit salty about it, but now as a parent, I understand my parents’ choice not to).
Most disappointing gift goes to Bart Simpson who wanted Bonestorm but instead got this.
My parents got me a gameboy but the only games I had for it was Babe Pig in the City and a copy of Ducktales that was lost in the attic before they gave it to me and wasn’t found until last year.
So hows ducktales?
Wow. My in laws used to find Xmas presents the following year (or 3) when my wife was a kid.
As someone who grew up in the early 80s, I would have been gitty for this. While I enjoyed video games, my heart was listening to music. I much rather have a portable radio than a game boy at that time.
I woulda been in jr high when this came out and everyone wanted either the Sony sport (waterproof) or a discman if you had rich parents (I did not).
We got a used NES and pile of used games because a cousin worked for a rental store and they started dropping NES stock when the Super NES came out. Somehow later on someone gave us a Genesis, but that and an Apple 2e were all we had for most of the late 80s- 90s.
Oh yeah, and in 92 little kids were still all about those crappy voice recorders from home alone. My little brother was all about those for a year or so.
I mean…the NES was great, AND you had a genesis??? I would not complain.
Sorry I didn’t mean to sound like I’m complaining. But at the time we got each system, the next generation versions had already come out and we’d missed the peak. So friends didn’t want to come over to play Mario 3 and Tetris (which were new to me at the time) when Super Mario World and Mario Kart were the current challenges.
I think my brother got the Genesis when his friend was giving it away breve he got a new N64.
They weren’t old enough to be retro yet, and I think you may be forgetting that kids can be pretty cruel about stupid shit like this. We’re stop deity has a lot of fun with these games. Even if we were never good enough to compete with the kids who’d had them longer.
I had a walkman sport. It was huge and even with the headphones plugged in, you could take a shower with it haha.
I eventually got a Genesis too. Then a Dreamcast.
I’m in my mid 40s now and I miss that feeling that when my dad came home with an walkman for me. Now I dedicate my life to constantly giving my son that same feeling! Because once he becomes an adult, it’s all downhill from there.
Man…I have a dark sense of humor, and you saying you just want to make your son happy before he becomes an adult gave me inspiration for a joke. And then I read the joke back to myself, and thought “Oh wait, if he doesn’t have a dark sense of humor this just comes off like a psychopath being an asshole…”
So instead of that joke, I’ll say you should just burst into your sons room right now, and hug them! Just go bursting in like HEY SON!!! YOUR DAD/MOM LOVES YOU, AND YOU AIN’T ESCAPING MY HUGS!!! GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE YOU BIG BALL OF INFINATE POTENTIAL!!! YOU’RE GONNA DO GREAT THINGS IN LIFE, AND I LOVE YOU!!!
And then your son would just be getting hugged, and confused, and he’d be like “uhhhhhhh…is one of us dying? What is happening right now?”
Aw dammit. See? Even without making a dark joke, I still made a different dark joke.
I’m about the same age. I remember playing with the simplest dumb things. Like the roller bearings left over from some failed engineering project. Or my dad’s old calculator with the vacuum fluorescent display. It’s tricky to instill that kind of make-do entertainment in my son when the iPad can play anything you want any moment.
Actually the trickiest thing has been teaching him to ride a bike. Our street is crazy busy and short, with no sidewalks. So we have to drive to a park or quiet neighborhood to practice. He’s almost 7 and it still hasn’t clicked. He did start really swimming (and diving) this summer though. Which has been awesome.
Haha, my mom was an accountant and I would love playing with the calculator that would dispense the paper. Would try and draw something with numbers.
My kid is 6 and he only gets to watch videos I downloaded from YouTube or movies that I downloaded from the places and put into a playlist on VLC. I do give him free reign on Spotify with the swear words removed.
As for bicycles, we live in Taipei and it’s way too dangerous to ride on the sidewalk, let alone the street. So we have to ride in the park.
I ended up paying someone to teach my kid after many failed attempts to teach on my own. After 1 class he was able to ride and after the second class he was proficient. I think the reason was my kid felt comfortable around me and if he is pushed to his limits, we don’t push him harder and he knows that. With a teacher, he just had to listen and follow the directions and take bigger risks.
Bike lessons actually makes good sense. My son has a habit of not wanting to learn from me as well (though he has turned around a little since starting first grade). Gonna look into that this spring. Thanks!
Good luck internet friend!