My Inner Child Plays with my Niece and Nephew

Anyone who is even a casual acquaintance knows how much I cherish my niece and nephew, Natalie and Noah.  While this love and admiration comes from a place of unquestionable sincerity, I recently discovered an added and totally selfish perk: I can buy them all the kick-ass presents that were not around when I was a kid.  Not only do they think I am the coolest person ever, I get the added bonus of reliving my own childhood, only bigger and better.

Case in point: I recently bought Noah the game Rock Band for his PS2.  And when I say I bought it for Noah, I really meant that his birthday was the perfect front for me to get my hands on this game.  Was it an extravagant purchase?  Totally.  Does it have any sort of educational value that will help his young, developing mind?  Absolutely not.  Should I have exercised fiscal responsibility and bought something more within my budget? One could argue that.  Was it ultimately worth it?  HELL YES!!!  This game totally, well, rocks.  

Within seconds, I transformed myself (with the assistance of easy mode and a VERY forgiving computer judge) from a tone deaf, pitch ignorant and rhythm-less white girl to a superstar, punk goddess rocker.  I actually sang (me, whose voice has been known to peel the paint in the bathroom whenever I attempt to "sing" in the shower) and scored a 96% on my first song ("I Think I'm Paranoid" by Garbage).  And, despite not knowing the song nor the group, Noah backed me up on guitar and Dan backed me up on drums.  We had a real bonding moment but more importantly, I kicked their asses!

I guess my point is that you can find gifts that truly will be loved by the recipient, bring the family together and ultimately serve your own selfish desires at the same time.  These are truly the kinds of gifts that keep on giving.......