Scans_Daily

I'm not saying they SHOULD be going "SURPRISE!" - I agree, that would be stupid - it's just that one of the cardinal dictates of good fiction is 'show, don't tell', and this applies here just as it would in real life. If the father wants to surprise his kid, something along the lines of 'hey, look what I picked up', followed by showing him the item in question, would be much more effective then just saying 'hey, why don't we blah blah blah' while the kid is feeling down and unresponsive. This is all presupposing it IS a surprise; if it isn't, then it's the equivalent of going 'hey, it's dinnertime, time for dinner, which we shall eat at the dinner table on plates while we sit on chairs.' The kid KNOWS all that; he doesn't have to have it told to him. It's too much exposition in fictional terms, and it doesn't ring true in real-life terms.