Maybe you've seen the TV commercial that shows 2 little kids opening a Christmas gift, in matching pajamas, and when they see the contents, they yell, "Yes, yes YES, YES!" They are jumping and high-fiving and smiling from ear to ear.
I have seen it a few times this season and each time thought, "Wouldn't that be a great feeling, to give a gift that gives so much pleasure?"
Well, we did not have the instant replay of that commercial, but we have had something almost as good.
LO played with her Main Christmas gift ALL DAY yesterday, and commented several times, "This thing is awesome." I have to admit, I did feel a little warm all over each time she said it.
Her main gift was the Fly Pen, created by Leap Frog. When the Leap Frog stuff for little guys came out, she was just on the older side of that age range, so we never got any of their stuff -- till now.
She said in September that she wanted it. I went online and pulled up all the reviews of it I could find. I found a zillion raves for it and only one pan. This is in contrast to a few years ago, when she wanted the Girl Tech Password Journal II and all the reviews for it said it SUCKED. I told her as much and she teared up and said, "I really, really want it." So against our best judgment, we got the thing for her and of course, it sucked. She spent about 3 afternoons yelling her password at the thing and it's been in her wooden box of tech toys ever since.
When I saw that the Fly Pen actually does what it says it will do (novel concept), I went to Ebay and got several great buys on accessories for it. Having a closet of games, faceplates, the charger and speaker, I set out to find a great buy on the Pen itself. DH came home from work one day to report that Target had a coup for the Pen and get a Journal free. One of his buddies at work had tipped him off to it. They had even cut out the coup for us.
I set out the next Saturday afternoon, as she had a playdate and I was free. It was a cold rainy blustery day, and I had to hit THREE Targets to find the Pen available. Our new SuperTarget only 22 miles away was out. The guy used his scanner tool to shoot the shelf tag and said it was available at a Charlotte Target only 15 miles further down the road. He checked further and said they had only 3 -- if they were out by the time I got there, to go on to another Target 7 miles further, that Target has little traffic.
So I went to Target #2, which was already out, and finally found it at Target #3.
Have had a closet full of Pen stuff for 3 months and in the meanwhile, LO has expressed the desire for several other things, seemingly having forgotten that she had wanted the Pen. I was really starting to sweat.
About 3 days before Christmas I shared with her that she was not receiving either an MP3 player or a cell phone. She seemed to accept this news pretty well -- she really is a good sport -- and seemed truly happy when she opened the Pen.
She can draw a piano, place the pen on the drawn keys, and make music -- in the notes of the drawn keys. She can draw drums and play them in 4 different modes, including African steel drums.
She can mix DJ tracks. She can play a game of "repeat the sounds" with it -- and when she is unsuccessful in repeating its tones, it says, "You ain't too good at this."
She can enter her appointments, and did so Saturday night, when we opened gifts. Yesterday when she turned on her Pen, it said, "Monday, December 25. 9am: breakfast."
She has software to help develop her writing skills and the Harry Potter Marauders' Map. Last night she was stretched out on the floor in front of the fire, playing with the Map, and said 2 or 3 times, "This is so cool."
The journal software prompted her to write what her dream vacation would be, what kind of friend she thinks she is, and who her dream guy would be. It has an old-timey lock and key on it, too.
At lunch she was playing trivia with it, remembering her states and capitals, and doing exponents.
I am glad we went for the charger as we would have gone through 3 sets of AA's by now.
So far, Spanish is the only language software offered for the Pen, and she prefers French, so we are waiting. Surely they will come out with French soon.
So often with tech toys, the truth is not quite the advertised concept, and it's so nice this time to have something that is truly as cool as is advertised. You can go online and play with its features as if it were the Pen, to get acquainted with it. The website is: www.flypentop.com.
I have seen it a few times this season and each time thought, "Wouldn't that be a great feeling, to give a gift that gives so much pleasure?"
Well, we did not have the instant replay of that commercial, but we have had something almost as good.
LO played with her Main Christmas gift ALL DAY yesterday, and commented several times, "This thing is awesome." I have to admit, I did feel a little warm all over each time she said it.
Her main gift was the Fly Pen, created by Leap Frog. When the Leap Frog stuff for little guys came out, she was just on the older side of that age range, so we never got any of their stuff -- till now.
She said in September that she wanted it. I went online and pulled up all the reviews of it I could find. I found a zillion raves for it and only one pan. This is in contrast to a few years ago, when she wanted the Girl Tech Password Journal II and all the reviews for it said it SUCKED. I told her as much and she teared up and said, "I really, really want it." So against our best judgment, we got the thing for her and of course, it sucked. She spent about 3 afternoons yelling her password at the thing and it's been in her wooden box of tech toys ever since.
When I saw that the Fly Pen actually does what it says it will do (novel concept), I went to Ebay and got several great buys on accessories for it. Having a closet of games, faceplates, the charger and speaker, I set out to find a great buy on the Pen itself. DH came home from work one day to report that Target had a coup for the Pen and get a Journal free. One of his buddies at work had tipped him off to it. They had even cut out the coup for us.
I set out the next Saturday afternoon, as she had a playdate and I was free. It was a cold rainy blustery day, and I had to hit THREE Targets to find the Pen available. Our new SuperTarget only 22 miles away was out. The guy used his scanner tool to shoot the shelf tag and said it was available at a Charlotte Target only 15 miles further down the road. He checked further and said they had only 3 -- if they were out by the time I got there, to go on to another Target 7 miles further, that Target has little traffic.
So I went to Target #2, which was already out, and finally found it at Target #3.
Have had a closet full of Pen stuff for 3 months and in the meanwhile, LO has expressed the desire for several other things, seemingly having forgotten that she had wanted the Pen. I was really starting to sweat.
About 3 days before Christmas I shared with her that she was not receiving either an MP3 player or a cell phone. She seemed to accept this news pretty well -- she really is a good sport -- and seemed truly happy when she opened the Pen.
She can draw a piano, place the pen on the drawn keys, and make music -- in the notes of the drawn keys. She can draw drums and play them in 4 different modes, including African steel drums.
She can mix DJ tracks. She can play a game of "repeat the sounds" with it -- and when she is unsuccessful in repeating its tones, it says, "You ain't too good at this."
She can enter her appointments, and did so Saturday night, when we opened gifts. Yesterday when she turned on her Pen, it said, "Monday, December 25. 9am: breakfast."
She has software to help develop her writing skills and the Harry Potter Marauders' Map. Last night she was stretched out on the floor in front of the fire, playing with the Map, and said 2 or 3 times, "This is so cool."
The journal software prompted her to write what her dream vacation would be, what kind of friend she thinks she is, and who her dream guy would be. It has an old-timey lock and key on it, too.
At lunch she was playing trivia with it, remembering her states and capitals, and doing exponents.
I am glad we went for the charger as we would have gone through 3 sets of AA's by now.
So far, Spanish is the only language software offered for the Pen, and she prefers French, so we are waiting. Surely they will come out with French soon.
So often with tech toys, the truth is not quite the advertised concept, and it's so nice this time to have something that is truly as cool as is advertised. You can go online and play with its features as if it were the Pen, to get acquainted with it. The website is: www.flypentop.com.
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