Ah Christmas. It’s just over two weeks away. Plenty of time to make your lists and check them twice, right?
At various stages of Kid-dom, my Christmas list would read something like this:
Real Candy, with Chocolate—not that hard stuff, and please no fruit (Santa, fruit is not nature’s candy—you ain’t foolin’ nobody)
Baby Doll with a Stroller (I know, Santa, you gave me one last year but my bratty brothers threw a rock through the stroller and shaved all the hair off baby doll)
Barbie (Huh, and I know the difference between Midge or Marge or some other knockoff)
Bike (hey, Santa, a new one would be nice, but used is fine, too, since I know they are expensive)
Pack of Go Fish Playing Cards
Parcheesi
Checkers
Horse—not a stuffed animal but a Real Horse—a black stallion that rears up and paws the air
Books—Black Beauty, Black Stallion, The Incredible Journey, Call of the Wild, or any book about dogs or horses or wolves
A pair of black and a pair of white shiny vinyl knee-high boots
Blacklight and Poster
And with the exception of the horse (dang), I received those gifts in one form or another.
All of those gifts are tangible. One can purchase the item, wrap it up, and put it under the tree. Well, except for the horse. And though I knew the probability of having a horse was Probably Never, that didn’t stop me from racing to the window every Christmas and checking to see if my horse was tied up to the sweet gum tree in our front yard, pawing the air and shaking its mane and looking me right in my eyes with a gaze that said “No one can ride me but you…!” Yeah. Hope springs and all that. Though magical, a horse is still a tangible gift, albeit an unrealistic one (at least unrealistic for me; my best friend did receive a horse for Christmas, siiiiigh).
At various times in my life we were pretty danged poor, so some of my listed items weren’t easy to come by—as a matter of fact, we kids didn’t really make lists. If we were asked, we’d state our wishes. Maybe some years we’d write a few things down. The lists were never long.
SPOILER ALERT! Cover the kiddies’ eyes! (I’ll place the “read more” tab here; I mean, just in case, y’all.) [Read more…]
