What was the most memorable item your child wanted for Christmas? Is there something you really wanted and never got….and never forgot that you wanted it? What do you want this year? Do you like to get a Christmas Wish List from your family or do you prefer hunting for that perfect gift on your own?
What are your thoughts on holiday gift shopping? I would like to hear from you! As for me- well it’s a tie between Mel Box and a Toilet Duck. If you’re wondering who asked for these unique items and if Santa granted their wish, you can read it below-
I invite you to join in-
Dear Santa,
I’ve been lucky. Over the years, my children never really asked for any impossible gifts. Most of their “must have” items were not big ticket toys or impossible to find, waiting in line, outbidding others on e-bay types of toys. But there are two years that stand out as the most interesting.
When my youngest, Andy, was 4 years old, we were out shopping while Michael and Kris were in school. While wandering up and down the aisles of Christmas merchandise, we saw it. Mel Box, the singing talking animated Christmas mailbox. For Andrew, it was love at first sight. He was totally infatuated with this plastic talking mailbox. I didn’t really pay him much mind because it was an obnoxious talking Christmas decoration and we already had his gifts purchased and his gift from Santa chosen. Andy, on the other hand, had other plans. He talked about the mailbox all the time. He told everyone about it- his siblings, his dad, his grandparents, his friends, his classmates…. All he wanted was for Santa to bring him Mel Box. When we were shopping in the same store a week later, he chattered on and on about how he hoped the mailbox was still there and that Santa knew about it so he could bring it.
I just knew. I had to get that mailbox for Andrew. There was no other option. That year we added a talking motion activated mailbox to our household. Andrew was so happy! I think it might have been his most memorable Christmas gift of his childhood.
15 years later, Mel Box is still unpacked every year and he’s always placed near the tree so he can alert us when someone is getting too close to the presents underneath. Upon hearing that we were threatening to remove Mel’s batteries because Ari had declared him dangerous and worthy of being barked at constantly, while CJ had continued his obsession with the mailbox that had began the year before, Andrew warned me that he would be taking Mel back to college with him if he felt that his mailbox was in jeopardy.
Luck was on Andrew’s side that year. A few years earlier, Michael had not been as lucky. The object of his obsession was the Toilet Duck. If you aren’t familiar with it, Toilet Duck was a toilet cleaning product sold in the US in the 90’s. It wasn’t the product itself that was what attracted Michael’s attention. It was the commercial. Even after I showed Michael the product in the store, he still wanted it. He couldn’t grasp that it was this bottle of toilet bowl cleaner. All he could picture was what he saw on tv.
After viewing the commercial, you might understand why Michael wanted it. Sadly, Michael was not going to get it for Christmas. Happily, he forgot about it. It’s a good thing, too, because he was so insistent at times that I was afraid his dad was actually going to buy it for him. The product. Not the duck in the helmet, like he thought the Toilet Duck was. What about you? Do you have any Mel Box or Toilet Duck stories of your own?
I would like to thank everyone who read the responses to the challenges! I appreciate you checking in and reading and I hope that you will join in soon.
Special shout out to last week’s participants! Thank you so much!
Please head on over to their blogs to read their thoughts on “Writing Space” and take a look at their other cool posts!
Silver Threading- My Creative Room
Notes Tied on the Sagebrush- My Writing Space
Thanks for stopping by and here’s wishing you a Merry Christmas!
Dandelion Fuzz 