My son will have a birthday. What to give him?
They began to prepare for the holiday in advance, two months before the celebration. My husband and I went through all sorts of options on the Internet in the sections, «Gifts for a six-year-old boy.» The choice is huge, I want to give a lot.
I mostly watch developing construction sets, my husband chooses boyish toys. They are, of course, also useful, but mysterious to me. And what to do with them? How to play them? I understand that dad and son will arrange wonderful battles with soldiers — this is a strategy. Or entertaining auto racing — tactics. Each of us (parents) chooses a gift for his son according to his needs and interests. And is it necessary to do so?
Is it right to give what is chosen for yourself? Of course, making surprises is good, but you need to make such surprises that will surely bring joy to the one to whom they are intended.
After thinking and discussing everything, my husband and I decided to ask our son what kind of toys he likes. What does he prefer? To explore his interests, we all started going to the toy store on a tour together, two months before his birthday.
We discussed with the child in advance that we would not buy anything now:
“Son, it’s your birthday in two months. We want to give you a present. All our relatives and your friends will also congratulate you. Therefore, we want you to choose everything that is most important to you. Then dad and I will know exactly what you want, and we will be able to tell everyone else. Think carefully, son, what exactly you need and why. Let’s take a closer look at all the toys that interest you. Let’s study them. Let’s think about what is the most necessary. How will you play with these toys, where will they be stored.
We went shopping and wrote down all the options. Then they discussed what they like more, what is more important. It was an interesting game, like they didn’t buy anything, but the pleasure was great.
My husband and I looked at expensive things pleasant for us. Our child looked at the toys he needed. We have compiled a long list. Together they analyzed and reduced to a reasonable size. Everything chosen by the son was quite inexpensive — relatives and friends can give it. And we wanted to give him something special that we would not buy on a normal day.
Dad offered to buy a bicycle, and I liked this idea too. We voiced our proposal to our son. He thought and enthusiastically says: “Give me a better scooter then.” Dad began to convince him that the bike is cooler, he drives faster. The child listened and quietly, nodding his head, said with a sigh: «Well, okay, let’s have a bike.»
When the child fell asleep, I turned to my husband:
“Dear, I understand that it’s great, it seems cooler to you than a scooter. I agree that he drives faster. Only the son wants a scooter. Imagine if I gave you a small car instead of a large car? Even if she was expensive and fancy, you would hardly be happy with her. Now, many adults ride scooters. And I am sure that you can find a good and worthy option that will serve your son for more than one year. And we can buy a bike for him next year, if he wants to.”
In my opinion, you need to give exactly what the person likes. It doesn’t matter if it’s a child or an adult. An educated person will always thank for any gift, but will he use it?
In Route 60, the father gave his son a red BMW even though he knew Neal hated the color red, and law school even though Neal wants to be an artist. And then what happened? I recommend to look.
We must respect the wishes of other people, even if they do not coincide with our views.
We bought our son a scooter. And relatives and friends brought gifts from the list compiled by our son. All gifts were well received. He was heartily happy and sincerely emotionally expressed his feelings. Toys are loved, so the attitude towards them is very careful.