I like to buy birthday presents that are sort of “out of the box” so to speak, especially for kid’s parties. A present is all about the surprise factor for me. When I found out cousin Cody was turning 8, after some thought, I set out to find a camping tent for his birthday gift. My teenager looked at me like I was crazy when I told her I was looking for a tent for a gift. I agree, I’m pretty sure that’s totally out of the realm of his normal activities, but he lives on a ranch now, so I figure he’d enjoy a little backyard camping. To my disappointment, there were none for sale at any of the three stores I went to.
So I wandered around a little bit on my way out of the last store when I stumbled upon the perfect gift….a gumball machine. I remember the utter coolness of a coin-operated gum ball machine when I got one long ago, one Christmas in the 90s. I was always a little entrepreneur, and I thought I’d get rich selling gumballs.
I wasn’t exactly sure if today’s kids would really like an old-fashioned gum ball machine, but I had a hunch they would. After all, sugar never goes out of style. At least, I figured, I can definitely picture him getting a kick out of selling gumballs to all his brothers and cousins at the party. So I took a chance and grabbed the gum ball machine. And boy did they love it; all the boys and girls hovered around it, scrounging the house (and mama and daddy’s pockets) for quarters.
I could have gotten a video game or something electronic because I know he loves those, but to me, it’s so much more fun to see their little eyes light up when they get something new and different. Just as I suspected, he is a true gumball entrepreneur. Here’s to getting rich cousin Cody…one quarter at a time.
Hey, maybe I need to find my old gumball machine!