Journal entry from when my sons were teenagers: We've learned not to give our older son a tangible Chanukah present . . . just gelt. He likes to think about his bank account growing while he does his homework. But Noah, our chazzer (Yiddish — at least as my parents used it — for both pig and greedy person) thinks “compound interest” is a foreign phrase. This year he wants HBO. He already has his own TV and his own phone line with call waiting and an answering machine, and it’s never enough. How could this be — a needy kid with open-handed parents? (I must be needy in a way, too; I NEED to be generous with them. Gevalt: even my Jewish shrink doesn’t understand me.) Noah also wants a regulation pool table with The Music Man's capital T and that rhymes with C and that stands for . . . chazzer! On the other hand, I like to play pool but I don’t like going to the places that have pool tables, so there’s a little ambivalence going on here because I can play with his present while he’s at school. But if we get him a pool table, he’ll NEVER get his homework done. But he doesn’t do his homework ANYway . . .
One gift down, seven to go.
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Gelt became the favorite Chanukah gift very early, and it remains the one gift my adult children REALLY want!
ReplyDeleteNoah also wants a regulation pool table with The Music Man's capital T and that rhymes with C and that stands for . . . chazzer!
ReplyDeleteDidn't I ever tell you that I play pool generally 3 x/week! Too bad Noah isn't in the Boulder area. Might be able to give him some pointers. Sam