Trapper Keeper Memories

Uno has been lobbying hard for an iPhone but she’ll take an iTouch.

 

She’s six. It’s all she wants for Christmas.   I consider this proof that we’ve failed our children on the modest expectation scale.

 

It also conflicts heartily with our $15 per child Christmas budget.   We know how to celebrate around here and it’s apparently not with the gifts. Curse the desire to live debt free!

 

I was talking with my sister and told her about the request for technology and she said, ” Oh my goodness! What was the most expensive thing we ever got for Christmas?!”   Without any hesitation I answered, “A Trapper Keeper.” And saying it out loud gave me a ridiculous amount of joy!

 

This makes me reminisce about the other gifts we exchanged around out house over my childhood.

 

Backhoe tooth: My dad owned an excavation business, one year the tooth off of the backhoe bucket broke. My mom bought the replacement and called it Christmas.

 

Oranges: Every year our stockings were stuffed with oranges.

 

Stuffed bear: Plush was the only gift from my parents the year they were building their second business, the mini storage. I slept with that bear every single night until I was married at 27-years-old. She traveled around the world with me and I discovered she made an excellent pillow for train travel!

 

Guinea pig: It died. It was not purchased on sale.

 

When I was a kid my parents would dread us heading back to school to compare our presents with the other kids in our class. (We grew up in a pretty wealthy area.) But now, as an adult, I don’t ever remember being dissatisfied with the way we celebrated Christmas!

 

I understand Christmas is recognized in our country with gifts and as a parent I feel pressure to find that perfect present for my kids. However, I’m also tired of finding toys the kids stop using after only a few weeks, or never even connect with in the first place!

 

When I look back at my own childhood and its scarcity of Christmas excess, I am comforted with the knowledge I have not been scarred for life because I got a Trapper Keeper or oranges in my stockings instead of Guess jeans and a Walkman. (Am I dating myself too much?!)

 

Whatever your situation, make sure you spend time on your relationships this Christmas. It will have more impact than anything you can spend your dollar upon!

 

What was your worst Christmas present as a kid?!