What advice will you give to a grandmother of eighty three years who needed to shop online for the perfect Christmas gifts to shower on her little grandson? How will you help her discover the hottest and the latest toys that will be most meaningful for the Christmas season?
Old and frail, and being unable to stay outdoors for long, it was inconceivable for me to take my ailing mother out for some shopping at the local toy store with the maze of shoppers on a weekend buying spree for her Christmas shopping.
The perfect solution was to shop online and get the toys gift-wrapped and delivered to the door.
I got seated besides her, fired up my laptop computer and showed her how to get online to the website of a shopping mall.
With the little boy tugging at her clothes, the grandma said she was out-of-date with toys. “What exactly would be the latest toys that my little boy would love to have?” All she remembered was that in her days, she would be playing tiny dolls and dressing up them, without none of the fanciful newer toys around.
“I want to make sure the little darling of yours will love those toys I’ll be getting him this Christmas”, she said with a glint in her eyes, knowing that at her age, every Christmas with her grandchildren is golden and a precious family time of happiness.
I performed a search on the internet for the best 10 Christmas gifts, trying to see what were on the wish list and what the hottest toys for Christmas 2008 would be.
There was a Duracell poll worldwide on what the little boys and girls had voted most for Christmas 2008.
Top on the list were the techie toys- toys that were animated and developed with high technology and sensors. In top position was a toy pup which could wag its tail, lifted its paw in response to a child’s simple commands, sniffed at a toy bone or chomped it for a meal. More impressively, the toy puppy could move within modes. It could respond to long periods of inactivity, or awake when the light was switched on in a darkened room!
So far, telling her what the toy could do did seem to bring some sense of comfort to grandma. But she did not seem to understand how a toy dog could do all these amazing things.
A thought struck me – a video would speak a thousand words! Scanning through the online store, I found video of the toys that were on the best 10 Christmas gifts 2008 list and quickly ran the video for “Biscuit My Lovin pup”, to show her what I meant.
Seeing the toy pup in all its animation and barking and responding to a small boy’s simple commands was all that she needed.
For the next hour, grandma was busy with my laptop, doing her Christmas gifts shopping online.
“The toys will be gift wrapped free and they will be delivered to the door within days”, she said when I was about to leave. With a look of real happiness, Grandma was thankful for online shopping and the videos that made it so much easier. In her heart, she knew that her little darling grandchild will gleam with joy over the hottest Christmas toys this coming Christmas.
Merry Christmas, every one!
