Do this BEFORE giving your child a tech gift!
If you look on any child’s Gift Wish List you will usually find a slew of tech items. After the excitement of ripping through the carefully wrap Santa gift wrapped, all your child wants to do is to start using their new present. However, today’s tech gadgets are not as simple as they used to be.
No longer do you just slap a pair of AAA batteries and your child can instantly play with their new gadget. These days, you have to jump through a bunch of tech hurdles before you are able to finally enjoy your gift.
So in order to save yourself and your child the heartache of being told they can stare at their gift while it charges, here is a list of MUST DO that every parent must know before leaving your child’s gift under the tree.
Step 1: Take a close look
When you order your item off Amazon or another website, the item is shipped to your home or office. When it arrives open the box and ensure that the gift didn’t get damaged during shipping. This happens especially in cities where it snows or rains a lot and items are left outside by the delivery service.
Carefully open the box that the tech gift is in and remove all of those irritating cable ties or twisted-wires that bind the gadget to its packaging. You would be amazed at how many are used and how ridiculously frustrating this can be.
Ensure that all the items are in the box. Usually, an “inventory” is sent with the gadget outlining everything that should be included. Just double-check that everything indeed was included.
Step 2: Charge and Cables
Make sure that you are able to power on the device. This means buying the right batteries and checking that you have the right cables. If the gadget needs to be plugged into the TV, you will need an HDMI cable. If the gadget needs to charge, a charging cable may or may not be included. Look at the type of cable that is required and ensure that you have one if one was not shipped in the box.
Check if you need to purchase a dongle or some other gadget that attaches to the gadget you just bought which is pretty common with Apple. #JustSaying
One element that is usually forgotten is power. If the gadget needs to be plugged into the TV like an Xbox or the PS4 (or PS5 if you are super lucky), then ensure that you have a power strip. There is nothing worse than having everything and then not being able to plug it in as there is only one power outlet behind the TV. Check yours now.
Charge the device. A nice full charge helps preserve the battery life instead of just using it with whatever little battery charge is left in the device.
When the device is fully charged and unwrapped on the day, your child will be able to instantly play with it and not watch it for 8-hours while it sits connected to the power outlet.
Step 3: Update
Typically devices leave the factory with one version of its software, however, since then new updates would have been released.
Check if your gadget has any updates and if it does, update it.
These updates can be tiny in size so they take a few minutes to download and install. However, your child’s brand new Call of Duty game will need a nice fast internet so and still, it will take a couple of hours to have all their latest updates installed.
Step 4: Put it back
Now that you have checked your device, ensured that all is working, you have all the cables, and it has been updated, you can now rebox it.
Seal it with adhesive tape so that it looks brand new and then gift wrap it. Your child will have no idea that Santa was nice enough to go through all this trouble just so that they can have immediate joy on the day.
