The most suprising Christmas gift I ever Received

When I was in 5th grade, the most popular toy for girls was the Cabbage Patch Kids.  Everyone had one or wanted one.  I was no different.  My mom sat me down one day to tell me that she had been to every store in town and there wasn't a Cabbage Patch Kid to be found anywhere.   She told me that she really wanted to get one for me, but she just wasn't going to be able to find one.  She asked me if I would want a Flower Kid instead, (those were the sort of generic knock offs of the Cabbage Patch Kid).  I told her that I did understand and that it was okay.  I was sad, but it wasn't the end of the world.  

In our house, we always got to open one gift on Christmas Eve.  My mom would pick which gift I would open.  So on Christmas Eve, I got to open my one gift.  Guess what it was... no, not a Cabbage Patch Kid.  :-)  It was a handmade nightgown that my mom had made herself.  She was not even close to being a seamstress, so it wasn't the best nightgown in the world, but it was nice.  Before I went to bed, she apologized again for not being able to find a Cabbage Patch Kid and said that she hoped I would not be disappointed with my gifts on Christmas.

The next morning when I woke up, I rolled over right on to the most peculiar thing...  a Cabbage Patch Kid who had on the exact same nightgown as me!  I was surprised and nervous.  I wasn't sure if this was a dream or some sort of trick or mistake.  I tiptoed down the stairs to find my mom with my new doll.  I just had a smile on my face and was like...  "is this for me?"  I thought, if this is some sort of dream, I don't want to wake up!

Sure enough, my mom had the doll the whole time.  (But I am sure you knew that, right?)  But she hadn't completely lied to me.  She did go to every store in town, (this was long before we had the internet in every home and online shopping).  Finally, she went in to a store called "Toy World".  they told her they were all sold out, like everyone else.  She asked them if they could just take one more look in the back room.  The guy working there decided to go ahead and check, and would you believe he found ONE doll.  And it was the perfect doll for me.  Similar hair color, similar eye color.  She couldn't have chosen a better doll herself.  I even loved the dress she came with.  Her given name was Ginger Eugenia, but I renamed her Allison Marie.

Twenty-four years later, I do still have the doll.  I took her everywhere with me for about a year.  She's a bit beaten up, but I would never get rid of her.  I appreciate the planning that my mom put in to making it a big surprise for me.

Twitter Moms & Target

This post answers the question: What was the most surprising gift you’ve ever received? Share your most surprising gift and you could win a Target $100 gift card. The sweepstakes ends December 27, 2009, so you have plenty of time to enter. Then be sure to come back and put your link in the comments below so I can read all about it.

My Review of Vtech V.Smile V-Motion TV Learning System - Blue

Originally submitted at Toys R Us

The V-Smile V-Motion Active Learning System by Vtech is a brilliant breakthrough gaming console that combines wireless motion-activated play, web connectivity, and educational gaming into a system that plugs directly into your TV. Your children will love the wireless action-packed play that guides ...

Vtech V.Smile V-Motion TV Learning System - Blue

Good when it works

By Vicki from Parma, OH on 12/15/2009

3out of 5

Pros: Educational, Engaging, Interactive
Cons: Works inconsistently
Best Uses: Entertainment, Young Children
Describe Yourself: Education Oriented, First Time Parent, Working Parent

I bought this in May 2009 for our son. It worked great for the first few months, then it started having problems. I called Vtech and they told me how to re-set the thing. (unplug everything, hold in the power button for 30 seconds, plug it all back in). I found myself constantly calling Vtech. It would work for one game and then I'd have to do the whole re-set thing every time he swapped games. After about 6 or 7 different calls to Vtech, they finally had me send the system to them and replaced it with a new one. I got the new one yesterday, so we'll see how long it lasts. My son likes the games and we probably have about a dozen different games. I don't expect much for graphics on this, so that's not a big deal. I just shouldn't have to disconnect everything and re-set it every time he wants to switch games (and hope it powers back on)

(legalese)