The Best and Worst Christmas Present, Depending on Your Perspective
More years ago than I’m willing to count, my youngest niece was a month and a half short of a year old at Christmas. My brother lived in Metro Atlanta at the time and we had a protocol of me going to his place on Christmas Eve, staying the night for the great unveiling the next morning and then me fleeing the family life the next afternoon.
You may recall the little stuffed toys that were popular then. The first of them was a Santa with a battery and whatever device made a sound buried in Santa’s innards. If you tapped him on the head the device said “Ho, ho, ho.”
I walked into the kitchen from the garage and she was toddling around, just kind of walking, not able to pass a sobriety field test. She smiled. I smiled. I sat down on the floor. She flopped down on the floor. I put the Santa in front of her and tapped its head.
She looked at it with suspicion. I did it again. Same look. but with her face indicating that she was thinking about it. I mimed that she should tap it on the head. She was having nothing of it.
I tapped and she became comfortable with the alien, smaller than her. that faced her on the floor. She got the idea that tapping resulted in ho hoing. A bit of miming more and she tapped. Nothing happened, as her tap was a bit too tentative. A bit more instruction and her tap induced a ho, ho, ho. She started with a smile which progressed to a giggle which ended in as much of a belly laugh as a yet to be one year old child can produce, midway through which she fell over backwards, still laughing.
We continued with this while my brother, my sister-in-law and my, even then sophisticated, other niece, all of seven or eight. looked on with growing annoyance.
Then the batteries wore out. Smiles, chuckles and laughs ended, tears began. Batteries bought for some of the next morning’s wonders were put into service.
She took her afternoon nap. “Don’t ever do that again,” I was told. Over the next couple of days, I’m told they went through a few more batteries. Cheap to my mind for such pleasure; but, then I wasn’t there for all of the fun.
10 comments:
Yeah, that is true.
As parents, we hate those gifts. Not because they're loud and annoying -because quite frankly, we learn to tune it out- but because when EXACTLY what occurs:
tears, tantrums, and panick attacks.
Oh and the kids don't like it much either :-)
Marty and I always give the youngest nephew noisy toys, mostly to annoy Marty's brother. We never heard any complaints about battery life. (But lots of complaints about the irritating noises.)
I'm one of the aunts that bring toys that sing, move, fart, burp, cry, hysterically roll across the floor, say "Mama".
I love the experience of seeing lit up faces, ear to ear grins and muffled groans from the parents of said children.
My son's Godparents gave him a "lite-brite" set one year for Christmas and I groaned as I envisioned all those little bitty pieces scattered all over the floor. His Godmother whispered to me then "I just always sucked them up with the vacuum till they were all gone." I did the same thing with that then over time. I rarely bought the older grandson toys because his parents usually went all out as did his other grandparents on the toy stuff and frankly, they didn't have enough room in their place for half of the stuff the kid got much less all of it or for me to add to that pile. Now, I buy him books! I will get a few small toys for Maya and Kurtis here but nothing that involves lots of small pieces that I am going to have to bend over, time after time after time, to retrieve from the floor and put away. Mandy regretted within 2 hours after Christmas morning having purchased one of those popper push toy things for Maya as it was the most annoying noise even for her to listen to much less for my old ears. Loss of hearing can be somewhat beneficial to older folks on those occasions though -or so I've found.
So, do you two have some sort of special bond now? Or are you just some other crazy adult who is holding her back from her full potential.
When I was a kid, I babysat a cousin and she and I just sort of did that -- we bonded.
But the bond didn't last. Oh well.
Oh my Stars, how cute.
We have a Christmas chicken that does the chicken dance. We had our 2 year old nephew over one year and just laughed with him while he did the chicken dance.
Then he gave us the stomach flu and the wonder wore off.
My daughter was scared of a singing/talking sunflower. She wouldn't go near the thing until she was about 3 - then she fell in love with the singing moose, santa, you name it. (Thankfully she wasn't around for that fish that sang "don't worry, be happy."
I am the aunt that gives those gifts though. I have 5 nephews, 7 and younger. And I go out of my way to find loud gifts for nephews 2 and 3... pay back as my brother was/is a pain in the neck! ;)
sounds addictive to me - belly laughs, that is. Isn't Christmas about joy?
Without totalling the vote, we seem to have a landslide of approval of annoying toyes by those givers that get to leave the premises prior to the aftermath.
As to special bonds, Pos, all kids grow up. She's now a sophisticated fifteen year old.
I came upon this and felt like sharing. We still have that Santa and it still sits out every christmas.
Hope your doing well!
Love,
AJ
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