wish list

Saturday mornings at our house almost always include watching Nick Jr. on CBS before we head out to the farmer's market. This morning I have noticed that 'tis the season to get little kids longing for the newest toys (available for Christmas). Parents across the country are, no doubt, saying: "Yes, honey, I know you want the My Little Pony Butterfly Island. We'll see." What does that mean: "We'll see"? For parents it is THE stalling tactic (i.e. If I wait long enough she will forget about it); for the child it is a dream deferred and an opportunity to hone one's memory skills (i.e. she thinks I'll forget about this, but I wont).

This got me to reminiscing about my own childhood. In my day (with no cable TV to teach me about what I HAD to have), there came a day each year when mom would bring home the bible of all catalogs...the SEARS catalog! I think she finally started bringing home two of them, but at first it was just one copy to share between my sister and I. We got to pour over the pages, (skipping the boy pages and grown-up stuff) and pepper them with circles, initials (indicating if this was a "G" wish for Genna, or an "A" wish for Andi), and our kid-versions of emphases: hearts, exclamation points, dog-eared pages, arrows, PLEEEEEEEEASEs, and a number of other creative indicators of our deepest desires.

This yearly ritual was almost as satisfying as actually getting all of those toys, which we never had the money for. We did get showered with gifts, but the exhilaration of shopping and dreaming was unforgettable! Matthew had a similar experience; he and Adam would shop to their hearts' content (but in the boy section). Matthew thought he would go nuts if he didn't get the 7-foot G.I. Joe battleship. Seriously, he still talks about it as if he would actually WANT this thing! If we have a son someday, we may need a very large garage.

So I am tempted to go to Sears and pick one of these things up. Shopping on Amazon just isn't the same. Seriously, it is like trying to read Shakespeare on a computer screen...some things you just have to hold in your hands to dream about.