Wii

This is a Wii. It is a game playing machine like a PS2 or Nintendo or whatever, but it is no bigger than a typical hardcover book (most sources say “3 DVD cases” presumably because people have forgotten how big a book is. Do we say “as big as a couple of chickens” or “the size of five golf balls”? I think not). The other cool thing about it, besides its great cuteness, is that you play with physical movements instead of pushing buttons. If you are playing tennis, you swing the controller. If you are bowling, you draw back your arm and push the controller forward. When you hit a baseball, it goes a distance based on how hard you swung. It is very fun.

My girls gave it to the boys for Christmas. They tried for months to get one, and then got a gift card for it in December. The boys had been calling the store asking for it every day, but there were no actual physical examples of it until today.

I was in Target yesterday and asked about it, and they told me there would be a few arriving overnight. There would be lines, we were told, and people camping out. We went over to the store an hour before they opened, prepared for long lines and mobs and stuff like you see on the news. Instead, a nice man came to the door and gave us a ticket. We, he said, were #8 of 12. #1 got there at 7:00 a.m., but there were folks who came up at 7:20 and still got a ticket.

At about 7:30, the fellow came back and had us line up by ticket number, which we all did very cooperatively. He then shepherded us into the darkened store and back to the electronics desk, where we politely waited our turns to buy the coveted object. Baaa, baaa.

By 8:00, it was all over.

We came home and made little characters for ourselves, with which we played all these jolly sports games. It is quite fun.