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The Perfect Gift
By Rebecca | March 19, 2008
What do you get a kid who has everything? An old phone.
For Christmas two years ago my daughter was given her Auntie’s old cell phone. Among the piles of expensive toys, books and movies the only thing she wanted was her phone. She “called” everyone she could think of, including multiple calls to her aunt to thank her for the new phone.
Last year, we were invited to a birthday party for a 3 year old boy. Even though the parents were students, the grandparents had contrived to make the tiny apartment look like an upscale toy store. I knew that I could not hope to compete with the presents that would be lavished upon him by his family.
That’s when I remembered the phone. It was (and is) still one of my daughters favorite possessions. I set out on a quest to find an old phone. At a garage sale that weekend, I found a dirty, corded wall phone in a free bin. I took it home and cleaned it off with sanitizing wipes. I placed it in a bag along with a McDonald’s gift card. (I didn’t want to seem too cheap.)
At the party, the birthday boy was not interested in his gifts. His mother tried to corral him while she opened each package. He was intent on escape. None of the beautiful toys enticed him at all. Then was our simple gift bag. First the card was pulled out. Gift cards are not impressive to three year olds. Then came the phone.
Slowly the little head turned. He ran to his mother and took the phone eagerly from her hands. He began pushing buttons and talking excitedly to grandparents and other family members–many of whom were in the room watching. Everyone laughed to see the delight on his little face. He played with the phone for the remainder of the party. From time to time he would set it down, only to rush back seconds later screaming, “I’ll get it! I’ll get it! It’s for me!”
The phone was clearly the hit of the party. Adults leaned over and asked me, “Is that a real phone?” When I answered in the affirmative, they would shake their heads and mutter, “What a good idea. I’ll have to remember that.”
Somewhere along the line people seemed to get the idea that kids want toys that are bigger, better, have more buttons and cost a lot of money. But the most popular toy in our house is a phone, a real phone that isn’t serviced by any phone company. Yet it manages to reach all of the grandma’s and grandpa’s that are routinely called from it.
Topics: Advice, Budget, Christmas, Family, Friends, Home, Parenting |
