Back to school after the Christmas holidays almost always brings home one unwelcome report from my kids: The list of gifts their friends got for Christmas.

My oldest is in middle school, so at this point, I feel I've become a pro at deflecting.

The responses I've perfected:

the shoulder shrug,

"oh well,"

"put it on your birthday list,"

or--when all else fails--an eye roll.

Still, I found myself momentarily speechless yesterday when my SIX-year-old came home with the report that four of her first grade buddies all received brand new ipods. According to my daughter, some of these ipods play video so these are not the $69 ipods--more in the $150-200 range.

My sixth grader didn't ask for an ipod until she was 10, but most of her friends didn't have any then. Now, I know that tech toys are being marketed to younger and younger kids and adult tech toys have been coveted by teens and tweens for a while, but does this mean that the kindergarten set will be begging for them too? Stumble It!