These days it is a bit difficult to be a child

These days it is a bit difficult to be a child. Everytime I receive an invitation to a birthday, I dread the act of attending. Primarily because it is expected that there would be a gift and figuring out what to give is a bit difficult. In the good ol’ days of ours, I remember I used to get laden with lots of books ( will testify that loading up a bookshelf with books is a habit I am yet to get out of) or with toy sets which used to allow me to “make” / construct stuff. Having had the luxury of handling Lego playing sets for various ages, I can say that nothing would be better than them to actually let young kids imagine and construct things. However, they are too darned costly in India. And educators don’t seem to realize how to use them. The nearest I have managed to find are Peacock Toys which is good but really does not have the “education” bit put in place – oh !! what a misery