Hmmm....

My nephew turned 8 yesterday. His desired gifts--Target and Toys R Us gift certificates (so he can get what he wants for a change), and a Dungeon and Dragons starter set, complete with figures. Nobody could pry that last one out of his determined little grip. He insisted on taken the still unopened box to bed with him. I have to wonder about his choice.

Most kids, I suppose, take teddy bears or other stuffed animals or dolls to bed with them. Maybe even a blankee. But not my nephew, and certainly not me. When I was his age I took a full size microscope to bed--yes, I admit it, I was a weird kid, and nothing has changed. Aside from my books, it was my most prized possession. Nobody, absolutely nobody was going to get the chance to take it away from me, and I certainly wasn't going to give my baby brothers and sisters a chance to break it. I still remembered the incidents with the Skipper dolls (Barbie's little sister) when I was five. One was disected, one was disected and flushed, one was boiled, another was knawed to death, and I don't remember what happened to the fifth. Consequently, my parents never bought me another doll. But I've wandered off topic.

So, I took a microscope to bed and I grew up to be a scientist of sorts. I can't help but wonder if taking a Dungeons and Dragons starter set to bed means that my nephew is doomed to a life of scifi fandom gaming. Maybe there's still time to convert him into a life of computer programming? Or worse, scifi authordom.