Fireman Nutcracker Christmas
Posted by Robyn Lee in Family on Tuesday, December 29, 2009 2:00 PM
I love hearing about what people received for Christmas, so I was glad when Danielle asked that question.
The gift that I would like to tell you about is one that was given to my brother Tom.
As I mentioned earlier, my family provides wish lists so shopping for the perfect gift is a little bit easier. My brother Tom, however, refuses to give a wish list. He simply gives his sizes and says “get whatever you think I would like.”
What a bold move.
But year after year, Tom usually gets the most interesting gift and when I draw Tom’s name I find it really fun to shop for him.
One year I bought him a foosball table. I didn’t want him to have any inkling about his gift so I hid the gigantic box behind the couch and instead wrapped a series of clues that led him to the prize.
This year, my sister Sue drew Tom’s name in the family secret Santa. Sue gave him a fireman nutcracker (since Tom is a volunteer fireman for our town). He loved it and so did everyone else. “What a cool gift! Where did she find that?” We gushed on for a while and then Tom went around the house taking pictures of Fireman Nutcracker with the dolls, Fireman Nutcracker watching football, Fireman Nutcracker with his family of nutcrackers … The Fireman Nutcracker was an instant hit.
Tom’s lack of a wish list made me think that it might be more fun to have zero expectations and be completely surprised by the gift. I know the focus should not be on the item, but on the act of giving. That said, my wish list is regularly made up of practical items (or candy); and I admit, that I may be too materialistic to take the “get whatever you think I would like” plunge.
What do you think? Stick with the wish lists or would you rather be surprised?
Print Blog
Email a FriendPost a Comment
By submitting this form, you give Faith And Family Magazine permission to publish this comment. Comments will be published at our discretion, and may be edited for clarity and length. For best formatting, please limit your response to one paragraph and don't hit "enter" to force line breaks.
