Jenna rarely ever produces a long list
of desired gifts for Christmas. Usually
she has her heart set on just one thing – and nothing else seems to matter.
When Jenna was three the one and only
thing she wanted was a Caillou doll. Caillou
is a cartoon character she really seemed into at the time. I didn’t even know if any toy company made Caillou
dolls. I was guessing probably not.
I researched but came up empty-handed,
but didn’t want to disappoint her. It was the ONLY thing she had asked for. As a
last resort I made two paper dolls and included three sets of clothes for each
doll hoping that it would satisfy her.
Oh, I am so grateful to have captured
as many memories on my camcorder (the old kind that took cassette tapes that
probably isn’t even made anymore) of her as she opened each gift and would
exclaim as she opened each gift,
“Candyland! (or whatever the gift happened
to be) Just what I’ve always wanted!”
It was so joyous for me to see her
pleasant gratitude and happiness for each gift.
And she loved every one of them just as much as the two paper dolls.
This year it was an alarm clock. I can’t
imagine why an eight year old believes she needs an alarm clock. Santa will deliver it to her via Las Vegas.
