Pending further research, we agreed the phase between dolls and laptops is, you guessed it, bean bag chairs. This could seriously flop–pun intended.
I’m dealing with the stress of perhaps becoming excited about a gift my kids will walk over just long enough to kick and ask me where their real present is. I’m not saying it will happen but somewhere in a bottomless pit of unforgiving beans, the possibility exists.
They keep mentioning things they hope they get for Christmas, including a DS which is some sort of dual-screen (oh I just got that) handheld, gaming device which I really don’t think either of the girls actually want. I think they’ve seen other kids with them or heard other kids asking for them two years ago and think that’s what they too should be requesting. What I want to hear them say is they really hope they get not a DS but a BBC. (bean bag chair) but no luck as yet.
Hanna said to me today, I think you and Daddy are Santa.
I was as cool as a parent being confronted with what can only be the most heinous accusation to come from an eight year old child’s mouth but a totally realistic observation from a nine year olds.
I was surprisingly cool when I answered, “How on earth would Daddy and I fly all over the world to deliver a present to every kid on earth in one night? Who would baby sit you guys? We’d go to jail if we left you alone like that?”
She stared at me looking for any signs of a facial twitch, eyebrow furl but luckily my gang symbol held strong, trying to hold my gaze to see who would flinch first.
Hanna: I don’t think you would deliver gifts to every kid, just us.
Me: Well what about all the other kids?
Hanna: Their Moms and Dads would deliver theirs.
Ellie: Not my friend. Her parents are divorced and her Dad doesn’t have a phone so it would just be one of her parents, not both.
Me: That all sounds pretty ridiculous. Christmas cookie anyone?
In that instant, I stopped worrying about the bean bag chairs and started worrying about the magic of Christmas. Was it over?
Then I realized our plan might work to keep faith alive.
If they hate the bean bag chairs they can blame Santa for not knowing them as well as their parents do. Why would anyone buy a five and an eight year old such a rotten gift? It could only come from someone outside the family who had no way of knowing what they really wanted was a couple of DS’s. What about their bean allergy? This is bound to work.
