Now that Christmas has come and gone for another year, you probably had the opportunity to notice all the popular kids toys that have been heavily advertised, as well as a lot of hubbub surrounding certain very popular toys. You may have even seen lines forming at stores in the wee hours of the morning as parents line up to get their kids the toys they want.

What are your thoughts on that? Are you one of those who has no problem getting up before dawn and driving to the local Best Buy or Target to pick up the latest gizmo that you just have to buy for your kids? Or are you the type who prefers to buy something else that is easier to find and just wait until later to buy the popular toy, maybe for a birthday or the following year for Christmas.

I was in the latter group until a few years ago. I would never imagine I would go out and stand in line for anything like that. I would see lines of people lined up around a building and think, wow, those are crazy people! Then my son asked for a Nintendo Wii. In fact he asked for it way in advance, and that was the one thing he really wanted. However, he made the mistake of telling me that he didn’t think it would be hard to find, that he thought the Playstation 3 was going to be the really hot toy for that year and it would be really easy to find the Wii.

Not true! For the first time I found myself setting my alarm clock and getting up very early to head down to the local Circuit City, etc, and trying to get a hold of a Wii. I had no luck and finally found myself going to Target in the wee hours of the morning to wait in line. I finally did get the Wii – barely! – but I am not sure I would want to do that again. And it just makes me wonder how many people out there feel the same or how many don’t really mind waiting in line for the popular kids toys every year.