The toy I loved receiving as a child.
Do you remember any of the holiday toys or games you received as a child? Did you have a favorite you'll remember forever? I recently wondered which gift was my favorite as a child, and there's one fishy game that came to mind.
My Childhood Christmas
Ah, Christmas. Do you remember the childhood joy of waking up Christmas morning, sitting around the tree with family, and opening gifts wrapped with love? What about the feeling of delight and joy after opening and playing with the perfect gift?
If you don't remember Christmas morning happening that way, that's alright. Neither do I.
My Mom and I started celebrating the night of Christmas Eve. Like many families New Year's celebration, we'd sit together in front of the TV the night of December 24th. At midnight, we'd wish one another "Merry Christmas."
Mom would then hand me a gift from her to open at midnight. It was usually clothing she wanted me to wear the next day when family came over to visit.
Mom would wake me early Christmas morning to watch part of a Christmas parade on TV. I only watched a part of it because she'd change it to Christmas Mass. She'd never really watched or listened to it because she'd be in the kitchen cooking a grand meal for lunchtime.
It wasn't until after lunch when we'd open our Christmas gifts. For most children, including my nieces and nephews when they were younger, this was the best part of Christmas Day! They'd open their gifts and spend much of the day playing with their new toys and games.
Mom would always get stressed while cooking and start yelling about how nobody appreciated her.
When family came over for lunch, drama would unfold, and more yelling would commence. Things would calm down enough for everyone to gather around the tree and open gifts wrapped with love.
I enjoyed opening Christmas gifts, but it wasn't an exciting or memorable event for me. I wasn't allowed to keep all my gifts.
I always kept the gifts my parents gave me. Mom gave me clothes and Dad would gift me one toy. I was permitted to keep any other clothes gifted to me. However, I could only keep one other toy not from my Dad, but I needed Mom's approval.
Oh, and I always kept Barbie dolls gifted to me even though I didn't care for them as a child. Every girl needed a Barbie back in the day!
My Favorite Christmas Gift Ever
When I recently wondered which gift was my favorite as a child, there were two that came to mind. However, there was one that I received every Christmas and birthday for four years.
I always wanted this battery-operated fishing game. When you turned it on, the fish would jump out of their holes, like a Whack-A-Mole game, with their mouths opened. It was loud, but a lot of fun to a child.
A player would use their plastic fishing pole to catch a fish. If the end of the line made it into a fish's mouth, the player waited for the fish to close its mouth, then pulled the fish out with the fishing pole. The player who caught the most fish at the end won.
The game was marketed as a multi-player table game, but I thought it'd be fun to play it by myself. It was the toy I wanted most of all every year for a few years. Every year, I asked my brother for it.
Every Christmas and birthday for four years, my brother fulfilled my wish! I unwrapped my gift to see that I received the greatest game ever in my mind.
I was seven years old when I received this game for the first time. It was the one toy I needed Mom's approval to keep, but she said no. The toy disappeared never to be seen again.
Mom would take the extra toys and games I wasn't allowed to keep to a store that'd give her cash back. If a store didn't accept it because there was no receipt, she'd sell it to a friend or re-gift it for a friend's child.
That Christmas was difficult for me. I was told we were hurting on money and needed to sell what was gifted to us. It was also my first Christmas without Dad after my parents' separation the previous Christmas season. My early childhood Christmases weren't the most joyous.
On my eighth birthday, my brother fulfilled my wish again! I unwrapped my gift to see that I received another fishing game. Unfortunately, birthdays were like Christmas. I could only keep what my parents gave me, any clothes from relatives, all Barbie dolls for some stupid reason, and one other toy. The fishing game was not the one toy I could keep.
I received the fishing game six more times from my brother. Even though we knew Mom wouldn't approve it, my brother enjoyed buying the cheap game, I enjoyed unwrapping it, and we enjoyed seeing the disappointment in my Mom's face before she yelled at my brother for getting it again. It was a great sibling bonding experience.
While my brother stopped buying me the fishing game, he continued this trend of buying me loud, obnoxious toys that annoyed Mom through my teenage years. One Christmas, he bought me and my two oldest nieces Furby's.
I had one Furby (which still works and sits in my closet), my nieces had five Furby's. We turned them on facing one another and listened to them talk, sing, dance, and burp while we ate Christmas lunch together as a family. Mom hated it and yelled. It was awesome!
My Other Favorite Christmas Gift Ever
As I mentioned earlier, there were two toys I considered my favorite. I received this other gift the same Christmas holiday, but it arrived a few days late.
I was bummed about spending my first Christmas away from Dad, and it didn't help that I couldn't keep the fishing game I wanted most of all. At seven years old, no child should think to themselves, 'thank goodness Christmas is over.' Yet, that's how I felt that year.
Then a package from Dad arrived before New Year's Day. He was stationed in Germany and there was a delay in the delivery.
Dad gifted me a Playmobil Lions Knight Castle. It was the largest gift I ever received up to that day. I didn't expect to receive anything from him, but it was great for seven-year-old me to know Dad still thought about me.
Mom initially didn't want me to keep it because it was a "boys' toy." Somehow, probably through a temper tantrum, we agreed that I could keep everything Dad gave me for any reason.
He bought me more Playmobil sets during his time in Germany. It became my favorite toy brand as a child. I believe because we were apart due to my parents' separation, each toy and game from him was extra special. I still have all the old toys he gifted me during my youth.
That Christmas holiday as a seven year old had its sad moments, but by the end of the year I felt great knowing I was loved. The next year taught me that the gifts didn't matter as much as the love I received from the people closest to my heart, especially since I couldn't keep most of the gifts anyway. My Dad and brother are super awesome!
What's Next?
A lot of crafts and other things are taking place and I hope to share some of those with you next week. Feel free to check-out my Videos page to see the latest YouTube videos I've uploaded but haven't blogged about.
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Thanks, and have a great day!
Simply Jelly Jam
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