What kind of lame gift did you beg for as a kid?

[shostakovich]

I was just thinking about this the other day, and now I'm curious:

Did you absolutely beg for a gift for birthdays/Christmas/Chanukah/etc., that - upon reflection - you now realize was totally lame?

Mine were:

- A fire escape ladder (I was really scared of my house burning down as a kid, and asked for this for several birthdays and Christmases in a row)

- That Pure Moods CD

- A personalized address stamp

I'm just picturing this stuff on my 7- 12 year-old self's gift wishlist, and then picturing my parents exchanging weirded-out glances with each other upon reading it.

[vicky]

Rocks. The polished kind you'd get at the National Geographic store or the museum. They were called "precious rocks and gems," but I preferred just calling them my "rock collection" because I was a hipster baby. I was obsessed. Also, a "dinosaur excavation kit." I loved that goofy thing.

[Sloane]

OMG that dancing flower thing, very distinctly early 90's. I never got it and I have no idea why I wanted it so bad.

[Kristinmo]

Dec 10, 2012 11:30:53 GMT -5 Lucy Honeychurch said:

I'm dying, because I totally wanted a fire-escape ladder too!

Me three!

[Bernadine]

I can't remember anything, but we recently found a letter my sister had written to Santa and she asked for "inflatable things." Lol.

[Deleted]

The first year I really "got" Christmas, I wanted a coffeemaker. That's what I asked Santa for.

My parents still tell the story about how they searched high and low during the pre-internet days and finally found a play coffeemaker that you could put water through. My mom still has it.

[shostakovich]

I can't tell you how good it feels to know there were other kids out there that also wanted a fire escape ladder! I always felt like such a weirdo!

Did you also have a fire-escape plan mapped out in your head?

[panicked]

I wanted a pottery wheel, a rock tumbler, and a popcorn popper.

[blueballoon]

A rock tumbler. I used it once.

[BaliHai]

Sand art. An ant farm. A Star of David after reading "Number the Stars" at (Catholic) school.

[shostakovich]

Dec 10, 2012 11:34:48 GMT -5 blueballoon said:

A rock tumbler. I used it once.

Ha ha - my nephew is asking for a rock tumbler this year

[Sloane]

Dec 10, 2012 11:33:21 GMT -5 shostakovich said:

I can't tell you how good it feels to know there were other kids out there that also wanted a fire escape ladder! I always felt like such a weirdo!

Did you also have a fire-escape plan mapped out in your head?

YES! I was fire-paranoid, I tried to do an escape plan to scale on graph paper.

[firedancer49]

Ah, the good old rock tumbler.

I also wanted a cow. Yup, I made a great case for it. We could tie it to my swing set, it would cut our grass for us, we'd ALWAYS have milk. I asked for it for every birthday and Christmas.

[Deleted]

i don't even remember. my bff asked for a rolodex once. i think we were 9.

[Deleted]

An address book and stationary. I was in first grade.

The next year I begged my mom for the black and hispanic American Girl dolls because I felt racist for only playing with my Kirsten (white) doll. She actually took me to the American Girl store to get both of them and when a salesgirl tried to get me to look at another caucasian doll I yelled "NO. EQUALITY."

That's one of my mom's favorite Christmas stories. It's tied with me yelling "I got diarrhea" when I opened up a diary on Christmas Day that was a gift from my grandpa. I didn't know they were different words.

[shostakovich]

firedancer - I love your case for a cow! Those are all really good points.

[fuckstick]

Mouse Trap.

I don't think it should even qualify as a game. I set it all up just to set it off and then I never ever actually played it. What a piece of shit.

[Deleted]

Dec 10, 2012 11:53:42 GMT -5 fuckstick said:

Mouse Trap.

I don't think it should even qualify as a game. I set it all up just to set it off and then I never ever actually played it. What a piece of shit.

I did this too. THE COMMERCIALS MADE IT LOOK LIKE THE MOST FASCINATING GAME IN THE WORLD. LIARS.

[mamasaurus]

I wanted a lot of nerdy shit as a kid. I don't remember all the crazy things I asked for, but once I did want a "Dr. Booger" science kit with lots of gross-out activities.

My favorite gift another year was a set of petri dishes with culture medium. I swabbed a bunch of different places in the house, up my nose, and my sister's foot. She was a baby and couldn't stop me like my parents could.

I also always asked for a bunch of books that made my family WTF. Boxcar Children? OK. The collected verse of John Donne? Huh?

[Chirp]

I asked for (and received) an electronic dictionary when I was in 5th grade.

It looked kinda like this one:


I was (still am) a dork that carried a book everywhere so I wanted something portable. I also received an accordion and a harmonica for Christmas that same year. I didn't ask for or express any interest in either of those items, so apparently my parents thought I was a really big dork.

[shostakovich]

Dec 10, 2012 12:02:36 GMT -5 Chirp said:

I asked for (and received) an electronic dictionary when I was in 5th grade.

It looked kinda like this one:


I was (still am) a dork that carried a book everywhere so I wanted something portable. I also received an accordion and a harmonica for Christmas that same year. I didn't ask for or express any interest in either of those items, so apparently my parents thought I was a really big dork.

This is awesome. Not only do I currently carry around a portable electronic dictionary (a Christmas gift), but I sewed a case for it...

[pantsparty]

A word processor. I wish I still had access to some of my lame-ass writings.

[kellykapowski]

I don't know if this qualifies in the same way as a rolodex does, but I BEGGED for a leather jacket. With fringe. My parents were dirt poor and this was a huge purchase for them, yet they bought it for me. There's pictures of me crying like a big ass baby because I realized how hard it was for them to buy.

I think I wore it a few months.

[circa1978]

Dec 10, 2012 11:30:26 GMT -5 Sloane said:

OMG that dancing flower thing, very distinctly early 90's. I never got it and I have no idea why I wanted it so bad.

I had one of those! I also begged for - and received - this phone:

[ralphlauren]

I am totally serious when I say this.......................

I wanted A CASH REGISTER.........WTF?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!?!?

[firedancer49]

I remember the electric dictionary thing. I think I had one!

[aprilludgate]

Dec 10, 2012 11:36:51 GMT -5 Sloane said:

Dec 10, 2012 11:33:21 GMT -5 shostakovich said:

I can't tell you how good it feels to know there were other kids out there that also wanted a fire escape ladder! I always felt like such a weirdo!

Did you also have a fire-escape plan mapped out in your head?

YES! I was fire-paranoid, I tried to do an escape plan to scale on graph paper.

This is so funny.

I desperately wanted a fire escape latter. We had a one story house, and I had already practiced escaping through my window, but I was certain that the ladder would save my life.

I also tried to get my parents to do fire drills, and attend family meetings where we would map out three escape routes from each room, and go over the established meeting location (the driveway) so that no one would forget. My parents never attended my meetings.

[aprilludgate]

Dec 10, 2012 12:16:48 GMT -5 circa1978 said:

Dec 10, 2012 11:30:26 GMT -5 Sloane said:

OMG that dancing flower thing, very distinctly early 90's. I never got it and I have no idea why I wanted it so bad.

I had one of those! I also begged for - and received - this phone:

This was my dream phone. I never got it.

I also begged for - and received - a globe.

[mamasaurus]

Dec 10, 2012 13:16:08 GMT -5 aprilludgate said:

Dec 10, 2012 11:36:51 GMT -5 Sloane said:

YES! I was fire-paranoid, I tried to do an escape plan to scale on graph paper.

This is so funny.

I desperately wanted a fire escape latter. We had a one story house, and I had already practiced escaping through my window, but I was certain that the ladder would save my life.

I also tried to get my parents to do fire drills, and attend family meetings where we would map out three escape routes from each room, and go over the established meeting location (the driveway) so that no one would forget. My parents never attended my meetings.

LOL. My parents rolled their eyes so hard at my attempts to have family meetings/drills and make plans.

"Get outside. That's a good fire plan."


One time the junk yard across the street had a huge tire fire that it took all night to put out, and firemen came door to door in our apartment complex telling us what to do if it spread overnight. I was all, "SEE GUYS? SEE! WE NEED A PLAN!" I felt sooo vindicated.

[jane6672]

Dec 10, 2012 12:02:36 GMT -5 Chirp said:

I asked for (and received) an electronic dictionary when I was in 5th grade.

It looked kinda like this one:


I was (still am) a dork that carried a book everywhere so I wanted something portable. I also received an accordion and a harmonica for Christmas that same year. I didn't ask for or express any interest in either of those items, so apparently my parents thought I was a really big dork.

My Grandpa bought me one of these and I LOOOOOOVED IT.

I was constantly typing memos to myself.