Who remembers "Oh be careful little mouth what you say"? I do. I remember it quite well when an occasional Christmas memory comes to mind. It was 1983. We finally got the word. We were going to be joining Daddy in Germany. He had already been there for several months. We were pretty happy. It was coming up on Christmas! We were flying out to meet up with him just a few days before Christmas! We wouldn't miss this one together!
As is the usual case with the military. We (mainly Mama) had to scramble to get ready. Pack the house, take care of school records, get the girls packed up. We were each only allowed so many pounds of luggage on the plane. You were only allowed so much weight per house to be shipped to you later. Guess what. No Christmas. Not really. There was no time to shop once we got there and it would have taken "Santa" away from Ann and Becky (I already knew) if we had it "just us" before we left. Besides, again, there was NO TIME to prepare.
So, Mama came up with a plan. She took us shopping. We got to PICK OUT our own presents! We got to choose, for just that year, what we wanted shipped to us in Germany! I will never forget picking out that plastic brown dollhouse. I will never forget walking with Mama through the store choosing my gifts. Becky was riding in the cart. I was a grown-up nine years old. Almost the exact same age as my youngest son. Ann walked along with us, too. I thought it was the coolest thing ever to get to know ahead of time what was coming to me, though I wouldn't have it for Christmas. It literally had to be packed up shortly after we got it.
Here's what else I will never forget. I will never forget walking up to the checkout and waiting in line for Mama to purchase our "gifts". I will also never forget the horrible woman behind us. I will never forget hearing her say, "How sad. These poor kids have to be here for the shopping. They should get to be surprised on Christmas!" How sad, Lady, that you didn't know the situation. How sad that you had to open your mouth and nearly ruin what was an excruciatingly exciting time for us.
So. Being an intelligent, grown-up, nine-year-old. I did what any smart kid would do. I turned to Mama and asked, "Do you think they'll like these presents, Mama?" I said it loudly. I wanted the lady to hear. I wanted HER to think they were for someone else. I wanted to protect my mama. I didn't want her to think I had a bad mama who was doing something wrong. Mama looked at me a little funny and said, "Yes. They will." I assume she thought I meant my sisters. The lady never knew (and didn't deserve to know) that, for me, that was one of the most exciting Christmases of my nine years. She made an assumption and acted like she knew and understood a situation about which she had no clue nor business knowing. And then, she opened her mouth. Be careful little mouth...
