The Very Best Gift (2 page)

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Casey at Age 2: "I want a Teddy Ruxpin. He can talk and he can sing."

If you are a parent, you know that there is a huge difference between a child’s first Christmas and the second or third – once the child can start talking. That huge difference is brought about by television
commercials which
children learn by heart. That Christmas there was only one thing Casey could say about her Christmas hopes:

“I want a Teddy Ruxpin. He can talk & he can sing.”

But
there was a problem. My husband, Patrick, and I were young and both working jobs that allowed us to pursue our dreams but
didn’t
bring in a sufficient income. Patrick was a waiter – which allowed him to audition for musical theatre productions – and I worked in youth ministry. Our entire Christmas budget for Christmas dinner, tree, gifts for each other and Casey was a grand total of $50. We had set aside $20 for Casey’s gifts. The problem was that Teddy Ruxpin cost a whopping $74. Even if we gave up everything
else
we still couldn’t afford the gift she had set her heart on.

So
, Teddy Ruxpin was
way
out of reach. We tried to dissuade and distract Casey and get her interested in less expensive toys.
But
whenever she was asked what she wanted for Christmas, all she would say was, “I want a Teddy Ruxpin. He can talk and he can sing.”
And
she said it with joy on her face and light in her eyes.

I worried over her mounting hopes. I tried to think if
there was any way, any relative we could approach
or friend from whom we could borrow, but Patrick persuaded me that we had
to deal with reality. Besides, he said, “She’s only two. She won’t remember what she gets or doesn’t get this Christmas.” 
So
I accepted our financial limitations and determined to get the best deals I could find and make sure Casey would enjoy the gifts we could give her. About that time – a little more than a month before Christmas – the Gemco department store chain was going out of business, so I determined to go to their Going-Out-of-Business sale to find some special gifts within my $20 budget.

I found Casey three gifts. I figured that since three gifts were good enough for baby Jesus (albeit his were precious gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh,) three gifts should be enough for our child too.

I was happy with my first shopping find. It was a pink tent that had a fitted sheet for the floor of the
tent which
would attach to the mattress on her toddler bed. As I turned onto a new aisle, I noticed a pyramid of stacked boxes bearing the face of Snoopy, the dog character from the Peanuts comic strip and cartoons. A closer inspection of the mountain of identical boxes showed that these were Snoopy
step-stools
. Casey loved Snoopy and she had just learned to brush her own teeth, so she would love having
Snoopy help her get up to the mirror – like a big girl – to brush her teeth. I thought that might be just the thing. I bought a Snoopy
step-stool
. I also found her another small
gift which
has faded from memory with the passing years. I dearly hoped these three gifts and whatever she might get from other relatives would make up for not getting Teddy Ruxpin.

Like any good mother of the only
grand-child
to two sets of grand-parents, I had to take Casey to the mall to get her photo taken with Santa.

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Mall Santa
Taking Photos with Kids

This also posed a delicate situation. I knew that Santa would ask the dreaded question.
So
as Casey climbed eagerly onto Santa’s lap, I tried to catch his eye and signal him.

“Have you been a good girl this year?”
Santa asked.

“Yes!”
Casey nodded her cute chubby little face excitedly.

“What do you want Santa to bring you for Christmas?”
Saint Nick asked her.

I asked one of the elves to help me get Santa’s attention.

Casey’s answer came without hesitation,
“I want a Teddy Ruxpin. He can talk and he can sing.”

While Casey’s back was turned away from me, her earnest little face toward Santa, I caught his eye and shook my head,
NO!
, silently letting him know that she was not going to get Teddy Ruxpin. The look of panic on my face seemed to be a language Santa understood. I dare say I was not the only parent that year who could not afford the hyped and coveted Teddy
Ruxpin. Santa caught on. He smiled down at Casey and said,

“Well, I’m sure you will like whatever I bring you because I will bring a special little girl like you something special.”

Sigh!

The elves snapped the photograph. We received the copies of the photo for the grandparents and moved on, with Casey waving back at Santa. As we walked away – Casey’s chubby little hand in mine – I tried to explain to a precocious two-year-old that Santa might not be able to afford Teddy Ruxpin either. It sounded lame even to me.

On the night before
Christmas
we came home late after a youth event.
Casey had become like the mascot of our youth group and was fawned over by the teens, so she came with us.
We turned on the lights adorning our modest tree, looking at the place where the gifts from Santa were sure to appear before morning. Casey was
SO EXCITED!
Pat and I were happy and excited too, enjoying the anticipation. Casey
hadn’t
mentioned Teddy Ruxpin in days, so maybe it would be fine like Patrick assured me it would be.

While Patrick retrieved Casey’s gifts and the wrappings from their hiding place – we waited until the last minute – I hurried to tuck Casey into bed, planning to keep her bedtime prayers brief.
So
I dressed her in her Christmas-themed nightgown, tucked her in, and said a cursory prayer.
But
Casey piped up before I could say,
“Amen!”

She added,
“Dear God, I know Santa can’t afford a Teddy Ruxpin.
But
you can. Please give me a Teddy Ruxpin. He can talk and he can sing. Amen.”

When I opened my eyes, she was smiling and giggling.

I closed the door to her room with tears in my eyes. I found Patrick unrolling the Christmas wrapping paper around the box for the bedtime tent. He asked me what was wrong, so I told him.

He said,
“Just get the other gifts down. We have to wrap them. Don’t worry, hon. She’s only two; she won’t ever remember what gifts she got.”
So
I started wrapping, but the joy was gone.

“Maybe I shouldn’t have taught her to pray while she is so young. What do you think this will do to her faith in God?”

“Connie,”
Pat said in a tired voice,
“Please, just
wrap
her gift. We still have stockings to fill.”

I took the Snoopy step-stool box down from the closet shelf where I had been hiding it. I read on the box that the eyes and nose were decals that had to
be applied
manually. Well, even though I
couldn’t
give my daughter a Teddy Ruxpin, I could make sure I didn’t give her a blind Snoopy with no nose!
So
, I removed the tape that secured the lid and opened the box.

I was staggered to find that the box did not hold a Snoopy
step-stool
but a Teddy Ruxpin. I gasped, lifting the prayed-for bear out of the box. There below where Teddy had been, I found enough new batteries to power him and two cassette tapes.

I sputtered and may have screamed,
“Pat, look!”

He was as shocked and confused as
I
.

“Did you steal that?”
he asked.

“No! I
didn’t
steal it! I found it in the Snoopy step-stool box.”

He grabbed the box and looked inside.

I said,
“I don’t know how it got in there.
That’s
not right. I should probably return it, huh?”

Pat said,
“You can’t return it. Gemco has been out of business for weeks now.”

Bewildered and with tears of joy and amazement in our eyes, Patrick tucked Teddy Ruxpin back into his Snoopy step-stool box along with the batteries and cassette tapes (so he could talk and he could sing) and wrapped the gift. I filled out the gift tag: