FLASHBACK FRIDAY – Barbie Bonanza

Don’t you find that there are certain memories that define moments in your life. They are those moments that make you smile and remember a memory in your childhood that no one else has. I was thinking about one of those moments today.

It was Christmas and I was around ten years old, so my little sister would then have been about five. We are the two youngest siblings, and have basically been treated like twins our entire life (despite the 5 year age difference). Anyway, my Mom, Dad, Sister and I headed to this store that existed back in the day called Sentry (think old school KMART). We loved going there, because the toy section was AMAZING. It was huge – a Barbie mecca. We also liked this store because it had a little cafe in it owned by this Greek couple my parents had known for years. They were sweethearts – they would always treat us to something yummy, and pinch our cheeks constantly. We loved them. We also enjoyed it because my parents would sit and have coffee with them and allow us to hang out in the nearby toy section at the same time. Coming from a strict upbringing, this was HEAVEN.

This day however, was a little different. We all walked over to the cafe and sat down. But my dad had a surprise for us. As I said, it was Christmas time and we were in for the best surprise ever. My dad told me and my sister to go get a cart and bring it back. So we did. When we returned, my dad told us to take the cart to the toy section and fill it with whatever we wanted for Christmas. He said that as long as it fit in the cart and we really wanted it, then those would be our Christmas gifts from them.

Our heads nearly exploded. We couldn’t believe our ears – we totally freaked out. So off we went, contemplating his every word:

“As long as it fits in the cart and you really want it, you can have it”

We were beyond excited. So off we went. We walked aisle to aisle, scanning all the goods first (I was a methodical child, what can I tell you). Then we hit them hard. We grabbed board games, art supplies, and toys that I can’t even remember. But then we entered – THE BARBIE AISLE – the toys we coveted the most. We grabbed everything we could, but there was a problem starting to emerge. The cart was full, even with everything nicely stacked. So we put some toys in the bottom of the cart. We wedged them in there so tight it was going to be hard to get them out. But we were greedy little people, and we kept remembering what our dad had said,

“As long as it fits in the cart and you really want it, you can have it”

And then, the lightbulb went off. We figured that if we could add to the cart by carefully piling  more toys on top of what we already had, it was “technically” still in the cart. So that’s what we did. We began making this precarious Barbie tower that was high, ridiculously so. We had no idea if we would even be able to move the cart, but we were going to damn well try! When we were finally done, the boxes went well beyond my height. I had my little sister commandeer the front, while I pushed from behind.

So off we went, moving at a snail’s pace, inching towards the cafe. It took forever it seemed, but we knew we were close, when we heard this burst of laughter coming from our parents and their friends. They could not stop laughing – I’m sure it didn’t help that we just stared at them with our sucky faces, hoping for the best. We figured either they were going to tell us to dream on, or they would ask us to put some back and start over. So what actually happened? My mom and dad stood up, said goodbye to their friends, and told them they had to go because they needed to go pay for all of our stuff. That’s right – my parents walked us over to the registers, and bought us every last thing in that cart. It was a moment that both my sister and I have never forgotten.

Thinking about it now, I truly believe that’s why they let us get away with that. It wasn’t because they wanted just to spoil us, although clearly we were spoiled. It was because they saw that absolute joy and excitement in our eyes that they too felt at that moment. They gave us that moment because they knew it would be one we would cherish always. And they were right.