A Christmas party…
I try to recall the Christmas parties I had been through since kindergarten but only one is tattooed in my mind. It was the party when I was in grade two about twelve years ago.
On the day of the celebration, everyone including me was wearing new clothes that only moms could buy. The first things which I took notice before entering the classroom are the gifts on the table. Some were small, some medium and others are large. My classmates were hovering over them looking for their names but they were shooed away by the teacher. I panicked and went back to my mom because I haven’t brought one. She said that it was fine and that my gift from Santa Claus was there. I was such a doubter at that age so I just gave her a plastic smile and went back to the parlor games. I didn’t want to join because my mind was preoccupied at the gifts and I kept staring at the odd-looking large box with a yellow ribbon at the backmost part of the other gifts.
I said, “Nah. It can’t be mine. It looks ugly.”
I stared at other gifts thinking that one of them might be mine. Other gifts are dumbly wrapped, one would easily know if it’s a stuffed toy or a pillow because of the wrapper’s contour. And I don’t want any stuffed toy or a pillow for my gift! I have been a very good girl & got the highest grades in class so I expect a doll house!
Well as a child, you always wish you had the biggest gift. Big gifts mean big toys. What do you expect? Opening it in front of your friends would be fantastic to show off considering if it’s the newest & the hottest toy in town. But that was before, now my parents won’t even buy me protection. Just kidding.
Back to the story. So there I was, waiting for my gift during the roll call. I was wiggling my legs, my mannerism, because I was so nervous. Other kids were opening there gifts and implying joys over their “ahhs” and “oohs” over what they had. The teacher was killing me for the wait and only a few gifts were left! I almost got out of the chair to run and cry to my mom and tell her that she’s a liar. But then I heard my name, the teacher was holding out the odd-looking box to me. I didn’t almost accept it but I took it, held it like cake then shook it. Duh. That was stupid. No sound came out.
Everyone had their gifts but I didn’t open mine because I was afraid that I might be dismayed. One of my close friends approached me & said that we could open our gifts together. And so I did…
I remembered that time that wrappers should be torn so the gift would last for a long time so I ripped it but gently not to hurt the box enclosing something. Then I saw a pink box with fancy letterings and a transparent front covering a very beautiful doll with long blonde hair near the waste in a pink ball gown. It was a Barbie doll. My eyes can’t believe it and my heart just leaped out of gladness.
Instantly, I liked her intricately painted face and the way she’s accessorized with a pair of earrings and a wedding ring. She was cute and unique that I bet even the rich girls in our class didn’t have a doll like her at that time. She also had a pink comb suspended by a string on her side. I wanted to open her then and there but I imagined the ruthless things that my jealous classmates would do to her so I decided to take her out inside our house. (I was such a pessimist that time, thinking always of bad things to happen and a worrier.) I liked her so much that I ran to my mom protectively hugging the box, kissed her and said my thanks.
We gave a beautiful name to match the owner to whom she was bestowed to. That name is Lynnette that was taken from my second name. So there I’ve learned in that Christmas party that I shouldn’t judge a gift by its wrapper.
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