Wii!

For his 13th birthday, Eldest received a Wii. (Nevermind that it's in the family room and all the kids have their own remote - it belongs to eldest!)

Eldest really wanted one of these. It was the only thing he asked for.

I could not find one in a store anywhere. I looked, and looked, and looked and found out that you pretty much have to go back to the store(s) everyday around 8am, if there is any chance you want to find one that just happens to have arrived that day and is still in stock.

I'm sure the store associates buy these up. Or call their friends/family to buy them up.

I ended up buying one on ebay from someone who I am sure worked at one of the stores that sell them (Target, Walmart, Best Buy, etc. . . . .).

I ended up paying $30 more than it cost in the store, plus $30 shipping.

But, it was worth it. Eldest loves it. He did not want to go to bed last night and stop playing it. He got up early ALL BY HIMSELF, without me having to drag him out of bed - just to play it before school.

In case you are not familiar with the Wii - it is a video system in which you play the games standing up. You don't simply sit there and press buttons. In tennis - you must swing and hit the ball. In boxing, you punch and jab. In bowling you swing and release the ball to knock down the pins. In golf, well, I haven't fully figured out what you do in golf to get that ball going, but I'm sure you swing at it somehow.

So, it's a very interactive game.

Now, my son wants to take tennis lessons. Guess since he's so good on the Wii he thinks he'd be awesome in real life. (Kinda how I stayed at the Holiday Inn Express last night and I'm getting ready to go perform open heart surgery.) I tried to explain how in real tennis you have to move your feet, fast, in all sorts of directions.

So, next time you're in Target, if you see a Wii - buy it. You'll make money on ebay!