The Most Thumb-derful Time Of The Year

My daughter's birthday falls in December, so between that and Hanukkah and Christmas, you'd might as well move the toy store here.

The problem is she plays with them all. Everything is opened and fully diagnosed. Nothing gets re-gifted. And I am obliged, between events and on little sleep, to assemble everything. It's not an armoire or anything, but it does take some effort.

And there is no procrastination allowed - you can't just do it tomorrow. Tomorrow is a flight or a conference call or a million other things. So I'm stuck with these moderately intricate directions, and a 6-year old peering over my shoulder ready to pounce.

Whether it's a multi-level Barbie House or a customized Hello Kitty headband-maker, these are mentally challenging exercises.

Even the Monster High and Bratz dolls are so accessorized, that even if you manage to get through the plastic shell, there are a million tight bands and tie wraps to cut your way through before you can extricate Frankie Stein from the box.

Video games are tough too, because the directions, rules and controller functions don't fall on the kid but the dad. The Monster High Skultimate Rollermaze on Wii is fairly simple, and thus is kind of a waste of time to play. Tangled and Brave are much more intelligent and strategic if I'm going to play video games with my daughter.

Just an observation: boys' video games are all about racing and competition. Girls' video games  are more about teamwork and task completion. We can learn a lot about society from this. Except if you're playing Monster High Skultimate Rollermaze, which isn't really about either.

But you'll never really know until you get it out of the box and put it all together.