So when I was a kid my parents had certain gifts they gave to each child based on their age. Not everything worked this way – so you didn’t know everything you would be getting ahead of time but there were certain things that followed the pattern. For example, when you turned 9 you got a watch for your birthday and a camera for Christmas.

Now that my oldest is 9 I kept up with this (it being one of the few things I can remember clearly from childhood). He got his watch last birthday and this Christmas I’ll be looking for digital cameras that are 9 year old appropriate and won’t break the bank. Back in my day it was a kodak camera with 110 film. Now I’ll have to consider letting him use the computer to download his pictures.