Sunday, December 19, 2010

Christmas Gifts for ourselves? I got some goofy stuff. What did you buy?

Okay, I'll admit it. I actually bought myself a couple of things this year...and I feel guilty. But these are really neat things so I'll have to learn to live with my guilt.

First of all, I bought a funny sign for our yarn. I saw it in one of the catalogs we get and I just couldn't resist it. I bought one for my Mom and then thought, what the heck, I want one too! Alex put it up on a tree in our yard yesterday. It's in the back although I really wanted to put it in the front of the house but I figured it would be stolen. Every time I look at it I laugh.

Our house, as you'd imagine, is a cross between a library, a monastery, and a joke. A good psychiatrist would have an entire case study without even going downstairs.

The second thing I got is a little odd. But so am I, so it's perfect for me.

When I was 7 years old my Mom bought me one of the very few dolls I ever liked. I was never into dolls -- especially baby dolls -- so people were not only unsurprised when I failed to reproduce, they were relieved. I was pitifully lacking in maternal instincts for anything that didn't have four feet and fur. (The kids I do have came fully assembled with my husband. All I had to do was feed them on occasion, take them on vacations, and serve as mediator whenever they argued with their father.)

Anyway, in 1963 my Mom bought me a Charmin' Chatty Doll. It was a nerdy looking doll (for a nerdy looking me) and it said nerdy things when you pulled the string. I lost the doll's glasses very shortly after receiving the gift and I've felt guilty for...oh...several decades now. I found the doll on eBay and I bought it. When it arrived it was a little shabby, but after 50 years it's not half as shabby as I am. I washed its hair and clothes and cleaned it up as much as I could. Sure, it's still stained, but it's now mine and I'm really happy to have it. The doll reminds me of when I was young and my brothers and I couldn't sleep on Christmas Eve because we were so excited about what was under the tree. The prospect of getting new toys was the biggest thrill we had. Well...until my step-father came along the next year and bought us tickets to see the Beatles!

I think I'll re-live my youth one Christmas present at a time...which means that next year I'll be buying myself a Creepy Crawlers kit! (It's Mattel...it's swell!)

Did you buy yourself anything for Christmas?

2 comments:

Laurie said...

I bought myself a couple pair of skinny jeans, rebel that I am. We are cut from the same cloth - even though I loved my baby dolls, I also am lacking in maternal instinct for anything with fewer than four feet. And...my "kids" also came with the deluxe hubby set. :-)

Deborah Knight said...

We're twins!!! Many years ago, I was complaining to my Mom that my staff were always taking time off for sick kids. My Mom said to me, in all seriousness, "Just think of them as their cats."

From the point onward, I was so much more understanding!

Some of us aren't meant to have kids. And sometimes, our parents weren't meant to have them, either! :)