File this one under “You’ve gotta be kidding me…!”:
Mentioned a few posts ago, I received an email notification that we would NOT be receiving the Rock Band 2 Wireless Drum Set I had:
- ordered weeks prior
- been given a UPS tracking number and a delivery date
- found within a half hour’s driving distance, but because of the two bullets mentioned above, decided to save the gas money & time suckage, since, you know…it was “on its way”
Well, as any desperate mother would do, I let my fingers do the walking and I continued to call stores locally to see if anyone had one in stock; I’d get a “yes” from a store employee (temporarily elated) only to be let down when they realized I needed it for X-BOX not Play Station.
The Friday night before Christmas, we went out to dinner; while we waited on our food, I decided to check Best Buy one more time, and, OH!MY!WORD! when I walked in there were TWO wireless drum sets for X-Box!
I commenced to Snoopy happy dancing, nose in the air and feet barely touching the ground. Any mother would KNOW why I did; everyone else just thought I was Christmas-crazy.
Who cared that they looked like returns? Heavily taped by apparently a four year old, I choose the “better” of the two, paid for it, and then, stealth-like-a-fox, got my daughter to sneak into the restaurant, ask my husband for the car keys, and without any suspicions from my sons (I’m s u r e), snuck them into the back of our van and covered them with a picnic blanket I keep for emergencies of the picnic or need-to-hide-presents variety.
Cause don’t we all have emergencies like that?
Oh! the glory of mother success! Christmas morning would be joyful indeed!
The next day, we hit the road for a visit to Georgia for a wedding and then to South Carolina for Christmas with my husband’s family. We returned home on Tuesday evening.
The Tuesday before Christmas.
Once unpacked, the next thing our boys did, was crank up the ol’ X-Box to settle the DTs they were experiencing from three days on the road without a gaming fix.
Nothing happened.
They unplugged it, replugged it, tried to reset it, whatever you do to make it work….and nothing.
Maybe we should’ve had the neighbors feed it along with our pets while we were gone, but whatever the problem, our 362-day-old X-Box was dead.
On Christmas morning, there would be no use for the wireless drum set I had scored for my son; there would be no use for the Madden ’09 game my brother got Thomas.
Thomas’ Christmas was beginning to look like the “What might have been” or “If only” or “Coal in your stocking would’ve been more fun”. He’s reasonable, and I was thankful at 14 he could understand delayed gratification, but he’s also still a kid, and I knew he would be disappointed.
Carrots dangled just out of bite’s reach, knowing they’re going to be so tasty, but having to wait to eat them. Somethin’ like that….
(The good thing was service at X-Box is excellent; we downloaded a pre-paid mailing label to return it, and they promised to repair or replace it within two-three weeks.)
There are TWO sweetly silver linings in this tale, though–
- After I found out we WEREN’T going to get the set mail order, I told Thomas his gift was canceled, and as soon as we could find one, we’d get it for him (I didn’t tell him WHAT it was, just that we found out at the last minute it wasn’t being shipped). I told him about ripping GamesForLess and Buy.com, and his response that melted me? “Awwww, Mom, you DO love me, don’t you?” (He liked that I was all bowed up and defensive for HIS sake, not that my love is ever in doubt.)
- Our friends, Chris and Julie, came to his rescue, letting us borrow their X-Box until his returns.
And that single act of generosity, might’ve been the sweetest gift to Thomas of all :).
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What about you? Did you have any missteps this Christmas? Did anyone extend an act of generosity to you or someone in your family?
I’ll tell you about one on behalf of my sister-in-law… her hubby was badly injured in an out-of-town auto accident the day after Thanksgiving (now in a rehab hospital and doing as well as can be expected). While she was at the out-of-town ICU attending to him, friends came to her house and completely decorated it for Christmas. Probably not -quite- the way she would have decorated, but a change now and then is good, and relieved stress during the holidays is so welcome, especially when you have extra.
I love that what originally was such a bummer turned out to be such a blessing – you and your son have a memory that is probably much sweeter than had you gotten the original set.
Our neighbors’ house burned down one week before Christmas. Between all the neighbors, kids’ school, and mom’s workplace, they had gifts delivered to their hotel room by Santa himself placed under a beautifully decorated-by-friends Christmas tree.
My 6yo begged for the Fur Real rideable pony all through the fall. We had NO intention of paying close to $200 for it, so I kept telling her that even Santa had a budget.
When she started praying every night that Jesus would tell Santa to give it to her, we wondered if there was any way to swing it. So when my in-laws asked what she wanted, we suggested going in together on it. Between us, in-laws, and one other family member, we got her the pony.
I still think it wasn’t the best use of money, but her faith has been bolstered. She got fewer actual gifts than the other kids, which I hope was a good lesson in making tradeoffs.
These are the best kind of Christmas stories. Glad that it has worked out for your guy.
One of our Christmas gifts this year was our friends who are empty nesters were given a gift certificate for an 8 lb ham. They know that they would never eat that all so they sweetly gave it to my large crew. I was able to feed the 5 of us, gave some to my sister, my mom and dad, and another friend with a family of five. That friend then reciprocated by making ham bean soup–which my boys adore. Plus, I still have some ham in the freezer for later. It was like the fishes and loaves in an 8 lb ham.
shaking my head… funny how things turn out.
Very sweet of your friends to let them use the X-box.
I should say that Dave did something nice for Christmas….and I think I will blog about it because he rocked.
Glad things worked out. So far, I managed another year without having to do the big game-stuff. But that may change after we spent the better part of Christmas playing Rock Band at my sister-in-law’s house. 🙂
You’ve GOT to be kidding me! All of Christmas morning I wondered/worried/prayed you were able to figure out a way to get that gift for your son. I was traumatized over here for you!! LOL. I’m so glad you did but then to have the X-Box stop working…my goodness!
What sweet friends you have to lend it out. And I am so glad you were able to work the gift issue out!
I can’t decide which vision made my smile bigger: that of you dancing in the aisles of the store of the vision of you hiding the box under the blanket! Oh, the things we do for love.
I love the thought of you snoopy dancing and recognize it as the victory dance, the end zone touchdown crazy foolery if you will, for mothers everywhere when such success is finally achieved. =)
Did you read my own story? Crazy. http://www.classichousewife.com/2008/12/30/santa-doesnt-always-wear-a-red-suit-sometimes-hes-dressed-in-a-com/