More "christmas" shopping....

So I was talking to DH last night about the metal puzzles I have in mind for DD, and his comment was that he wouldn't bother because he doesn't think she'll like 'em anyway. That she'll probably look it over for a couple of minutes then toss it to the side & never pick it up again because she can't figure it out. I told him that it's MY hope she'll start USING that brain she's got (and a darned smart one, when she uses it!) to try to figure it out, that I'm sick & tired of giving her cheap plastic & electronic crap when it breaks & wears out & rots the brain, and I want to give her things that challenge her & will put up with whatever abuse she can heap on it. He just kinda responded with "Well, whatever, but I don't think she'll like it."

I also realized that at 10 years old, she's old enough for a swiss army knife or a mini-leatherman of her own, and that'd be a good thing to put in her stocking. Again, DH seemed to think that she wouldn't like it, and what's the point in giving her one???? Ummmmm, they're useful as hell!!!! And she's 10!!!!! Plenty old enough for her first pocket knife. I don't think I was too much older when I got my first swiss army knife. I now carry a mini-leatherman & a 2" folding-blade knife with me every day. And find uses for both of them EVERY day!

It's kinda ironic how DH is discouraging all these hands-on activities & pressies, when I know he grew up running almost wild himself. And knowing how he encourages her in sports, and certainly doesn't make her feel as if she shouldn't be rough&tumble "just because" she's a girl. And yet when I talk about getting her a knife or a leatherman, he shoots them down because they'll be uninteresting to her because she's a girl and she's not old enough to appreciate them. *sigh* I don't care. Fortunately stocking-stuffers have always been MY jurisdiction (he wouldn't bother with a stocking for her at all, and would tell her "the truth" about Santa if I'd left it up to him), so I'll put whatever I darn please in that stocking. And I AM getting her a pair of silver hoop earrings for a stocking stuffer, as well.

So, here's the list for DD now:

* Jenga (got it)
* "The Daring Girls Guide To Everything"

Stocking stuffers:
* Swiss Army Knife or MiniLeatherman
* metal puzzle
* silver earrings (coming in the next week or so)
* leather pocket-change pouch (got it)
* leather design-punch tool & key-ring kit (got it)
* Mini Kaya (American Girl) doll
* a GC for downloadable music

I think that sounds like a reasonable mix of girly & tomboy-ish for a 10 year old girl. And it's a reasonable mix of fun and useful.

(Oh, and for the record, I DO want to get the "Dangerous Boys Guide" as well, but not as a christmas pressie to DD.)

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On a some what less personal note, I want to again recommend a couple of books to everybody. Specifically 3 by James Howard Kunstler. The most immediately relevant is _The Long Emergency_. If you haven't already read this book, I very strongly recommend that you get your tail to the nearest library & borrow it, and failing that, beg, borrow or buy a copy from a friend, a neighbour, or your nearest bookstore.

2 other highly relevant books by him that I strongly recommend are _The Geography of Nowhere_ and _Home from Nowhere_. They discuss the hazards of the suburban lifestyle we've gotten ourselves into in the last couple of generations (or roughly the last 60 years) and the reasonable ways we can fix our transportation & housing problems before Peak Oil makes things impossible to fix, and also impossible to live with.

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I think that's it for today. Gotta get my tail in motion & do my exercising so I can get something to eat before heading to work.

Have a Blessed Day.