Asking for stuff

Every year, my parents ask me for a list of what I want for Christmas.

When I was a kid, it was so easy. The "Wish Book" (which I guess was the name Sears had copyrighted, but Penney's and I think Montgomery Ward's also had the big giant Christmas catalogs) had come, and my brother and I would pore over them and figure out what we wanted most. (Sometimes we would play a game: if you could have one item on the page, what would it be and why?).

I seem to remember developing most of my ideas of what I wanted from the Wish Books rather than from tv ads. Toys WERE advertised, but we didn't watch as much tv (I dare say) as the average child of today. (We did not have cable, and there were perhaps five channels - and one was PBS, which didn't run actual ads for stuff anyway).

Also, it's different when you're a kid. Or at least, when I was a kid. Our allowances were very small, so if you wanted a big toy, you had to save up for months. So getting toys at Christmas was a big big deal. (As I remember: we usually got one or two of the bigger things we asked for, plus a couple smaller things, plus small random toys - like those bags of plastic farm animals or new crayons or something). Usually I got some kind of stuffed animal, either one I had specifically asked for (One year I got Tiffani, Benji's "Girlfriend" (And she had puppies with her - two white and one brown.) or one of an animal that was a favorite animal. (I had lots of stuffed toy mice as a child)

As an adult, it's more difficult. (And I admit it: I still have a stuffed toy or two on my Amazon wishlist. I feel weird asking my parents directly for them - I mean, I AM 43 years old - but they're on there if they happen to look at it).

Part of it is that I have pretty much what I need, and I can buy what I want. And part of it is that there isn't that big must-have-it item (like the Fisher Price Castle set was for me the year I asked for - and got - it). I'm not a techie person (and at any rate I'm not sure my dad would spend as much as an iPad or something cost; my entire family is really not into the extravagant-gift thing).

In recent years, I've taken to asking for fairly practical things. New "field" jeans. New field boots. This year, belts (now that I am having to wear them again). A watch - one of mine broke, the other one the battery ran down on and the maddening thing is it's not made so you can open up the back and change the battery! I guess that's what you get for buying a $15 watch. The other one I have - the one I'm wearing now - has one of those metal link bands and it's too big for me and slides all over my arm. So I need a proper watch with a cloth or leather band. And one with a second hand.

The thing with asking for practical stuff is that it means I don't have to go out and buy it in January. It's not the money - I have enough for the necessities of life - it's the having-to-go-out-and-buy. I'm not a big fan of clothes-shopping at the best of times and the way Sherman is laid out, if I don't find what I want one place, it can mean a lot of driving to find it. So it's a lot easier to ask for those kinds of things and either have them wrapped and under the tree on Christmas, or have something like a "promissory note" (for things that really need to be fitted, like the boots) where I can go out with someone after the holiday - to a store where we KNOW the item will be - and get it.

I also ask for craft stuff. This year I asked for a quilt kit. And I kind of have standing notice out there that sock yarn (in minimum amounts of 100g of a colorway) is always appreciated. (100 g of sockyarn is enough for socks. Or for a couple pairs of mitts, or one big elaborate pair. Or a hat. Or a shawlette).

I admit other craft kits - like beading kits or embroidery - would probably be appreciated, even though I don't do those kinds of things as often. Or something like a set of molds and essential oils and glycerin soap that could be melted down and colored and scented and molded....

And books - though I acknowledge that for someone like me, books can be risky unless bought off of my "wish list" because I so often buy books for myself, there's a chance of me getting something I already own.

But it's different, being an adult who has pretty much what you NEED, versus being a child looking at the old Wish Book (I guess they don't do those any more?) and being able to find all kinds of stuff you WANT.