Simultaneously high fiving and face palming

Image Source

Searched for hours to find a worse gift giving parent than me. Huzzah!

What parent is completely clueless when it comes to their child's 9th birthday?

I have no idea.

I don't know what to give Miss8-going-on-9.

If I ask her, she wants the meet Katy Perry, as previously faux promised.

My bad.

Katy Perry is soon to arrive in Perth, and Miss8-going-on-9 is convinced I'm going to surprise her with VIP tickets and a meet and greet.

My very, very bad.

I don't even know what to wow her with that will make her forget my faux promises.

I have no clue what to give my child for her birthday.

True story.

So I did what any desperate gift-clueless parent would do and I bought her a tablet computer.

I am equal parts face palming and chastising myself over gifting a NINE YEAR OLD a tablet PC (albeit a cheap import), and also high fiving myself for keeping up with the times, gifting her something that will *hopefully* aide her future education, see her spending time on Study Ladder and Reading Eggs and only using Google for research purposes and certainly not anything remotely dodgy or Katy Perry Tour Dates related.

I've got time to think of something more age-appropriate.

Her birthday isn't until October 10th.

But I'm not optimistic.

The kid wants nothing except to meet Katy Perry, go to a live X Factor Australia show so she can see Red Foo in person (her personal style icon and second favourite celebrity ever), and have Starbucks' New York Cheesecake with me - and here in little old Perth Western Australia, we are possibly the only corner of the known universe not blessed with a bloody Starbucks.

So I'm going with the tablet computer.

For her education.

Not her YouTube addiction.

That comes second, unless she can produce something that sees her go viral and me become a slightly better stage mother than Dina Lohan.

I said slightly better.  I'm a realist.

I blame Katy Perry.  I'm not sure how she's responsible, but that's what I'm going with.