Gifts for the Gifted

As nice as it would have been for *me*, Christmas morning wasn't just breakfast followed by an hour of my fella and the mascot watching me open my gifts. They got a few nice things, too. 

I made out like a bandit, but R went home with a pretty good haul, too. I know for a fact that he has been getting lots of use out of the wireless keyboard that we gave him, and I can't wait to try out his new GPS on our next adventure. 

The real highlight, though, was when the mascot opened his XBOX 360. Not just because it is what he's been asking for (relentlessly), or because I didn't bring out the box until all of the other gifts were opened, but because in order to get one, he had to make a little deal with me. It was a pretty standard agreement: achieve 79 or higher in ALL of his subjects at school and I would buy him an XBOX. Easy peasy, right?

Of course, when I proposed this, I honestly didn't think that I would be forking over the $300. He's a good student, yes, but this is grade nine...high school...the big time. I figured he would kill in a few subjects and then scrape by in a couple others. I had NO idea that he would finish the term with an average in the 80s and a spot on the school's honour roll! Gah! Well, as it happened, he came home with a stellar report card and I had to put my money where my mouth is. Literally. Thankfully, report card day happened to coincide with "black Friday", so I managed to get a good deal on the system through Future Shop online...and it even included the Kinect*! 

Needless to say, the boy is thrilled with his gift. He set it up all by himself and has been playing it almost non-stop since Boxing Day. Which is good, because as soon as school resumes on the 9th, he'll be back to the books and working hard to keep those grades up. 

*Now I can play Zumba! I mean, I'm sure there are many games that the boy will enjoy.