Daredeviltry

I’m a thrill-seeker who loves adventure, so I hate giving boring old Christmas gifts like shirts, bathrobes and compact discs.

I prefer gifts that are considered by many in my family to be a bit on the wild side, though I realize not everyone likes receiving them.

Thankfully, both my brothers and my cousin do. Sometimes even my dad will accept one of my exhilarating stocking-stuffers.

One year I paid for my older brother to ride all the roller coasters in Las Vegas, including the Desperado at Stateline, Nev., which goes up to 94 mph and features a 225-foot drop. The gift also included a hotel stay and a little gambling money.

He desperately needed a massage afterward, but thoroughly enjoyed the rides.

A couple of years ago I gave my younger brother, a daredevil, a certificate to go para-sailing behind a speedboat. He absolutely loved it. So the following year I paid for him to go bungee jumping off a crane that was 150 feet in the air.

My mother, who considers the Peter Pan ride at Disneyland scary, had a fit. It presented a great opportunity for her to practice her theatrics and live up to her reputation as a dramatic Cuban mother.

“You really don’t love me if you do those dangerous things and force your brothers to do them too,” she said after my brother took the plunge off the crane.

I have no choice but to give her dull stuff like clothes and jewelry each Christmas.

But this year I’ve already purchased scuba-diving lessons for one brother and an introductory rock-climbing course for the other. My mother should be thankful that at least one of them won’t be airborne.

My cousin will get a beginner’s flying lesson in one of those tiny, unstable aluminum Cessna planes, and my dad will get the thrill of his life on Dive Devil, a Magic Mountain attraction in which you swing with intense momentum while lying on your stomach 153 feet in the air.

When I was a kid, my dad used to ride every roller coaster with me, but lately he has used a bad back as an excuse to stay away from them. Dive Devil is smooth sailing, though. Of course, I’ve been on it several times.