From Santa, With Extra Love

On Christmas Eve, Ian was absolutely determined to go out and buy a present for Daniel... He had a very particular item in mind, and knew of only two stores that sold them, each in a particular town.  He asked specifically to be taken to Toys R Us or to Walmart, and only in specific municipalities.  We were very busy that afternoon, but he kept asking over and over again, and had a  real desperation in his voice as he'd say, "I need to get a Christmas present for Daniel!"

Of course, eventually we were on the path to accommodation, and as he and I headed for Walmart, he mentioned that he had to go to a Walmart that had a Remote Control Beyblade [to us boring old people, a very fancy top with its own hand-held startup mechanism.  He said that when Daniel had mentioned wanting it, and somehow he got the idea that he might  not get it, he cried.

So we went to the Walmart in Manchester, since the Walmart in Derry wasn't picking up the phone, so I assumed they were probably closed, in spite of the information I got in my appropriately-diligent research before we left, which had indicated that they were open until midnight, even on that day, which was a Sunday.  But Ian kept insisting that it was the Walmart in Derry which had the Remote-Control Beyblade.  Derry wasn't as expedient a stop on our itinerary, and Manchester is a bigger town - in fact, a city - so I figured that we should stick with Manchester.  [Toys R Us was already closed at that time on a Sunday evening...]

So Ian led the way to the spot in Walmart-of-Manchester where one might expect to find a Remote Control Beyblade, but somehow they didn't have it, which was absolutely no surprise to Ian.  He and I had already negotiated a course of action; if Manchester didn't have it, we'd go to Derry, unless I could be sure that Derry was closed.  So I got on the cell. phone (Amy's - mine is broken now, but I knew I should bring some equipment for this delicate mission, and called the Derry store from the hapless Beyblade-like-product aisle of the Manchester store, and after about 18 rings, someone actually picked up the phone, and confirmed that  Walmart-Derry really was open until Midnight.  So we made a beeline from the Walmart-Manchester parking lot to the Walmart-Derry parking lot, and Ian had no trouble taking us to the precise location of the Beyblade in question, which turned out to be a couple of dollars more expensive than he had believed (actual price $17), even though this was a sale price.

Ian brought his piggy bank - the pink, full-featured piggy bank from the Ipswich Saving Bank (logo on the piggy's side), which was stuffed to capacity with coins  - mostly smaller denominations - in a reusable shopping bag that also contained a few dollar-bills and a five-dollar-bill, all totaling about $24.  He carried this bag with him through the store, to pay for Daniel's present.  Needless to say, he was satisfied when we had finally purchased the product, in spite of the unexpected higher price.

***

On Christmas morning, the boys raided the base of the Christmas tree, with Amy's blessing, and it turned out that both of them got Remote Control Beyblades.  Ian made a point of presenting Daniel's to him, quite enthusiastically.  But the wrapping and marking on Daniel's was a little bit different.  Ian's came from Santa, with Santa's classic, elegant writing on the tag.  The tag on Daniel's present was makeshift - it was made from a triangular scrap of torn wrapping paper of a different pattern, rather than being an Official Tag, but to my great surprise, it turned out that the present came from the same source.  In nine-year-old writing, the tag read:

To:  Daniel

From:  Santa

It turned out that the fruit of this relentless, piggy-bank-bearing search for a Remote Control Beyblade for young Daniel came not from his doting brother, but from Santa himself.

(January 7, 2013)