Middle DS has thrown me into a tailspin

[mom of 3G's]

and the crazy leprechauns that come and mess up the house.

So this is who messes up the house!!!!!! Finally an answer!!!

OP: I would get the nano that he wants. They are so fun, you might as well keep the refurbished one for yourself. I think Target has a deal on BF, but is that only for the 8 gb? I would probably spring for the 16 gb because if he plans on making lots of movies, that is going to suck the memory right up.

 

[Swimalie]

Costco has them slightly cheaper than the store and I got my blue one there. Also if you are an educator or govt employee, you can get a discount through Apple - either in person or in the store. You just have to show your id. IT's not a huge amount. I think we saved $70 on our $1300 iMac. Not sure what the iPod discount would be.

 

[WDWHo]

your 9 year old boy still believes that santa is bringing his gifts?

Mine does (and we are jewish!) we do hannukah and christmas. I love that he is innocent enough to still believe!

 

[WDWHo]

a 9 year old boy who admitted that he believes would be laughed out of school. I personally would not be lying to my kid at that point.

pretending doesn't make christmas special, people do. Only my opinion, of course.

How old are your kids, just curious?

 

[kidrericha]

My kids know they can't have everything they want. Tell him Santa only brings one big gift.

Cheers to that. What's next, Santa is bringing me a 52" LCD flat screen with a built in blu-ray player.

I quote the great Judge Smails...

"YOU'LL GET NOTHING AND LIKE IT!"

 

[kidrericha]

a 9 year old boy who admitted that he believes would be laughed out of school. I personally would not be lying to my kid at that point.

pretending doesn't make christmas special, people do. Only my opinion, of course.

Wow... it is truly depressing how cynical some people have become. Yes, we, as adults, have all reached that point where it's time to put away childish things, but are we so bitter about it that we feel the need to rob our children of that innocence and wonderment?

Just a shot in the dark... I'm guessing character meals are pretty much a waste of your time, right? Might as well take the tyke to Sizzler.

 

[luvsJack]

a 9 year old boy who admitted that he believes would be laughed out of school. I personally would not be lying to my kid at that point.

pretending doesn't make christmas special, people do. Only my opinion, of course.

That is so not true. Dd only stopped believing this year (she is 11) and my boys believed past the age of 9 and no one ever laughed at them. And in my world its not "lying" to them. If my child or any child asks if Santa is real; I simply say "I believe in him". That's not a lie, its a simple fact. And its part of the magic of Christmas; just like Mickey is part of the magic of Disney--and yep we believe in him too. Without some magic, I would think that life would be very boring and deary.

As for the problem at hand, I know less than nothing about Ipods but from my experience kids of any age will change what they want a hundred times (one reason I just can't do my shopping too far in advance). I would go with the suggestion of getting a video camera seperate and keeping the Ipod you have that is in the color he wants. Looks like that would pretty much cover it.

 

[Indiana Rose Lee]

How old are your kids, just curious?

2 months to 24 years.scary, huh.

I guess I shouldn't have said anything. But then I felt that if I didn't come back and explain myself it was worse.

I don't think it is sad for kids to grow up. I think it is awesome. Every stage has its great points. Even the ones after makebelieve.

eta: I think it is really ridiculous for adults to tell kids they believe. Why do it?

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

That's why I don't shop for mine until after Thanksgiving. DS14 always changes his mind. DD10 usually decides on her big gift early but all the smaller stuff is moving targets too.

DD10 believes in Santa, DS14 knows his not real but keeps the magic going for DD10. They both get a few gifts from Santa too but the big gift comes from us.

 

[CherylA]

a 9 year old boy who admitted that he believes would be laughed out of school. I personally would not be lying to my kid at that point.

pretending doesn't make christmas special, people do. Only my opinion, of course.

Depends on the kids and depends on the school and the group of friends I think. I agree that this is the case a lot of the time and I would rather break it to my child gradually and gently on my terms than harshly by some mean kid at school. My oldest DD is 7, 2nd grade and she doesn't ever say anything about the kids talking about Santa in school so who knows, maybe I've got another year or two. I kind of like the whole "wink, wink, nudge nudge" bit when they know, makes them feel so grown up; I'm kind of looking forward to it.

Oh and for the OP I think Costco may be your best bet.

 

[delmar411]

a 9 year old boy who admitted that he believes would be laughed out of school. I personally would not be lying to my kid at that point.

pretending doesn't make christmas special, people do. Only my opinion, of course.

Well we still 'pretend' and DD11 'knows' w/o confirmation from us. But she's been told from her classmates and teachers since 3rd grade here. (yes even teachers have told her Santa is make believe)

I simply handle it as a non-issue. Only people who believe receive in our house.

We also have a 3yr old, 5yr old and 6yr old who all firmly believe and I expect will continue to do so for quite some time.

 

[luvsJack]

2 months to 24 years.scary, huh.

I guess I shouldn't have said anything. But then I felt that if I didn't come back and explain myself it was worse.

I don't think it is sad for kids to grow up. I think it is awesome. Every stage has its great points. Even the ones after makebelieve.

eta: I think it is really ridiculous for adults to tell kids they believe. Why do it?

Its only ridiculous if you don't believe, I choose to believe. I CHOOSE to believe in Santa and Mickey Mouse and Tinkerbell and pixie dust. I choose to believe that there is magic in this world. Its a choice that I make and I choose to believe because it makes me happy. Thats why I do it. That doesn't mean I am telling my children they have to believe--I simply tell them that I believe and they have to make up their own minds.

Every stage of a child's life is awesome. I have had the wonderful opportunity to be with each of my kids through every step so far, one all the way to parenthood.

It is a miracle to watch them grow to aduthood, but there doesn't have to be a stage "after make believe". Make believe can be a part of every stage of life. There is no "too old" for make believe, just as there is no too old for being silly or playing with toys. Maybe that is why we enjoy each other as a family so much, we play together and yes, we play make believe.

 

[3boymthr]

OP here - Ignoring the whole believe don't believe thing as a policy, yes he still believes, his older brother also believed at that age as do all his friends. I was shocked when oldest DS still believed at that age, but by 10 he didn't so I'm not arguing.

I bought the "original" refurbished one from the Applestore and I'm investigating my return options. So I'm hoping I'll only be out the extra $50. This is his only "big" gift.

My kids get one big gift and some smaller gifts plus stocking stuffers. The big gift always comes from Santa as mom and dad are always complaining about the budget. One of the reasons we were "shopping" is that he asks santa for several items and then mom and dad are asked for a couple and then grandma is asked for a few more.

Anyway, back to my original question. Thanks to the other poster for suggesting waiting till BF to check the apple store. 5% is definitely not much, but it's better than nothing. I'm also going to check Amazon. Because he is so particular about what he wants I don't want to wait too long. It will be ordered by next Friday.

 

[BeenHereB4]

a 9 year old boy who admitted that he believes would be laughed out of school. I personally would not be lying to my kid at that point.

pretending doesn't make christmas special, people do. Only my opinion, of course.

Are you for real? This is total nonsense.

My DS is 9. He tells me he believes but has been questioning. I will NOT burst his bubble. He WANTS to believe. And I don't think it's discussed much at school anyway, this is something we talk about at home - where my kids get to be KIDS!!

And about the real issue here - the Ipod. If it was me, I'd probably go with what I had already purchased. Maybe, if I wasn't going over budget with whatever else he wanted, I would purchase a separate flip video recorder. But that's just me. Hope you find a deal if you decide to purchase a new one!

 

[driftwood]

If you are a member of Costco, the three days after Thanksgiving, the new 8gb is $10 off with coupon (store has coupons) making it 129.99, colors include blue.

 

[parkers*momma]

Its only ridiculous if you don't believe, I choose to believe. I CHOOSE to believe in Santa and Mickey Mouse and Tinkerbell and pixie dust. I choose to believe that there is magic in this world. Its a choice that I make and I choose to believe because it makes me happy. Thats why I do it. That doesn't mean I am telling my children they have to believe--I simply tell them that I believe and they have to make up their own minds.

Every stage of a child's life is awesome. I have had the wonderful opportunity to be with each of my kids through every step so far, one all the way to parenthood.

It is a miracle to watch them grow to aduthood, but there doesn't have to be a stage "after make believe". Make believe can be a part of every stage of life. There is no "too old" for make believe, just as there is no too old for being silly or playing with toys. Maybe that is why we enjoy each other as a family so much, we play together and yes, we play make believe.

SO true!

 

[Robinrs]

2 months to 24 years.scary, huh.

I guess I shouldn't have said anything. But then I felt that if I didn't come back and explain myself it was worse.

I don't think it is sad for kids to grow up. I think it is awesome. Every stage has its great points. Even the ones after makebelieve.

eta: I think it is really ridiculous for adults to tell kids they believe. Why do it?

The word THINK is important. You have a right to what you think. I think some of the stuff I'm reading here is RIDICULOUS. You have a right and I have a right.

 

[Princess April]

Heck, I still believe ... my parents told me that Santa only comes to kids who believe in him... so when you tell us that you no longer believe in Santa we'll tell Santa to stop coming (mind you this conversation was held when I was like 10 years old or so...) but I still remind my parents that both my DD and I believe.. and I EXPECT Santa to remember me too!

 

[disykat]

I'm know people don't want to hear this, but I'm of the opinion that this nine year old (to whom Santa has always brought one big gift) is suddenly asking for two big gifts because he is in the process of working though the Santa thing.

My kids are teens and both "knew" around eight.

 

[Indiana Rose Lee]

I would never force my children to lie to get gifts.

disykat, I suspect you are right. Either that or he is playing the system.

3rd grade boys aren't known to be the nicest to ignorant peers. Bhy 3rd grade kids know pretend and real.