YAY! Essay Time Again

OK.. Judi's Contest time is here... YAY!

But this one is tough! WE have to tell ..."The very best and most special gift" we've received.

................That'd be my kids of course. Hey, they were like wrapped and stuff for 9 months.... they could be it.

Or are we talking like gifts like Christmas present gifts. Hmmm...I don't remember any special gift.

That's not to say as a child, I didn't get nice gifts. I did. I just don't remember anything as wildly 'special.'

My older sister however, would argue strongly at me saying that. It seems one year I got an Etcha-Sketch. And she was wildly jealous for years. So much so that well into our adulthood she still mentioned that I was the one that got the much coveted Etcha-Sketch when I was like 10.

Now, you have to understand my sis. She is the same girl that got a horse,..... twice. On two different Christmases. I mean a truck pulled up, my parents called her outside, and out walks a horse. lol. But still, she remembered the year she was crushed cause I got the Etcha-Sketch.

So one Christmas not too long ago, I got her an Etcha-Sketch. We played with that thing all day. I'd forgotten how much fun they were. She was right. It is a great gift. lol.

Years later after I was married and had kids, money was always tight, so the hubs and I didn't exchange presents. It was more important to give to the kids. And alot more fun too, to watch them run in circles in excitement. Happy and stuff. Nothing beats that as a parent.I got nice stuff too, I'm sure. And the things the kids made as gifts are always special items that I cherish and save. But I can't pick one childs handmade gift over that of one of my other sons.

As a single parent, that makes us the Santa. That means I give the presents, not get them. I just can't see giving the kids money to spend on me when I could take the $ and buy them something else. It is about the giving. And I love seeing the excitement on their faces when they open that gift they thought they'd never get in a million years.

So that's my "bestest" gift, ever. The smiles, the shock, the joy I see in my kids when Mom pulls off the impossible and makes one or two dreams come true.

Well, It's either that or an Etcha-Sketch.