Santa Claus Was Really Mommy and Daddy

Christmas of 1998 was a very special celebration. My parents had just finalized their divorce so my Mom and me were living at my Grandpa’s house. Every year around Christmas time I would get so excited because I knew I would get the best toys. Even though 1998 had been a tough year on myself as well as my Mom, we still kept the Christmas spirit. One of the hit things that little 4 year old girls loved was Barbie’s. And I mean Barbie’s everything. Barbie Dolls, Barbie clothes, Barbie shoes, Barbie House, Barbie car; literally everything I had was Barbie material.

The one thing I was missing was the life-size Barbie Jeep at Toys ‘R Us. It was bright candy pink with “chrome” rims and even had hot pink tires! It was any little girls dream to own a hot pink Barbie Jeep and me being the car fanatic I’ve always been, I could not live without it. Every time we went past the store I begged my Mom to just let me go sit in it one more time but she knew if she made that mistake she’d leave the store with a screaming and crying baby. She sure was smart.

So it was the night, Christmas Eve, and I was lucky enough that I was allowed to sleep on the couch in the living room so as soon as I woke up I could open all of my presents. I was all tucked in and ready for Christmas as I dosed off most likely watching Veggie Tales before bed. But quickly I awoke. There was a lot of noise going on outside and the front door was wide open. No one was in sight, so like a curious child, I looked outside the front door to see what all the noise was coming from. There was my Mom and what is now my Step Dad unloading a brand new, hot pink, absolutely beautiful Barbie Jeep out of his truck. They were carrying it to the front porch, then they set it down and covered it up with a tarp. I could not believe it, was this real life? My dreams had come true, but what if I walk outside right now? What would happen to me, would they take the jeep away, would I get in serious trouble for being too curious? I quickly contemplated on what I should do next and I thought, even though I wanted to run outside, I figured I should go lay back down and act like I was asleep. A few minutes later my Mom came back inside and snuck back to her room. I got back up and looked through the window at the Jeep covered up. I was dying of excitement.

Before I knew it, it was Christmas morning! As I awoke in a drowsy state of hunger, I remembered what beautiful present there was sitting on the front porch! I quickly asked my Mom if I could open my presents. She of course was so excited for me to open them so she handed them all to me and I started unwrapping presents like a crazy person. After completely trashing the living room. she told me I had one more present waiting for me from Santa on the front porch. She opened the door and slowly walked me outside while she covered my eyes. Let me tell you I was dying inside, literally dying. She uncovered my eyes and there she was. The most beautiful thing I had ever witnessed. I do recall screaming, quite loudly from excitement of course. She reminded me that being a good girl throughout the year definitely paid off and that had Santa rewarded me well this year! But of course, me always ruining things, I told her that I watched her bring it onto the porch the night before. The tale of Santa Claus was over for me, Mommy and Daddy were Santa Claus!

She was so, so upset. I had literally crushed her hopes and dreams. But I didn't care, I had my Barbie Jeep! In the end, we all laugh about it. The worst part was when I went back to school and told all the kids how Santa Claus was really my parents; that didn't go over well. I had it all wrong. That's something to look back on and have a good laugh. That's my best childhood memory.