I spend far too much time deciding on gifts to my giftees. I only realise after I buy the gift that I spent HOURS in deep meditative thoughts trying to picture the perfect gift for the giftee, given the information I have about them. I tend to forget where I am, or how late in the day it is, or that I haven't checked my phone (which is on silent mode) for awhile or that I didn't have dinner while I browse through carefully selected stores.
Today, my mission was to buy two small gifts for a set of 3-year old twin girls. The stores are filled with expensive, useless and potentially toxic things for children and to find something my giftees will benefit from was a task that took me nearly two hours. I've never met the duo, but their loving mother is one of my closest colleagues and through her, I've heard so much about these two little people in the past two years. As I gather, they are in the entertaining age of learning to read and imitating what adults say.
Seriously Shu, how hard is it to pick something for two little girls???
Just pick something pink and girly.
*Looks at a Barbie interactive sticker book to paste clothes on dolls* *spits*
*Looks at several gender segregated "Books for boys" and "Books for girls"* *shakes head*
No! I'd rather get them something educational or at least age-appropriate and gender-neutral
How about Roald Dahl or Enid Blyton ?
Urgh. They are only 3! They can't read that well yet.
But do you have a big budget?
No, not this time of the month when I'm on peasant-mode.
Then, just pick up something!! They are kids and they'll only care about your gift for a few minutes before they forget all about it!
True. Then I should get something the parents will be involved in. Like a bedtime story book!
After much deliberation and sorting through shelves of books and piles of toys, I found two books which I liked very much on first glance (No, the large pictures of animals had nothing to do with it! *grins*). I read through the books to ensure it was age-appropriate and useful for the girls.
Somehow, reading the books made me remember how awesome my parents are. And I was immediately hit by waves of emotions and strong memories of how the both of them brought me up when I was younger. I may have gotten a bit teary too. Somehow, it didn't seem to matter that I'm almost 30 or that the recipients were just 3-year olds; the essence of the book applied to anyone who was fortunate enough to have felt the warm embrace of loving and caring parent figures.
Yes, my daddy drives us home safely when all of us have fallen asleep while travelling on very long journeys and he endured many hardships while working overseas to put us through a good education.
Yes, my daddy is good at many subjects like Mathematics, Physics and English. He's very organised and patient. He has green fingers too.
Yes, my daddy used to make sure I was well wrapped, strapped (and awake!) while riding to school in his motorbike. He is still very concerned when I fall ill.
Yes, my daddy did buy me my first bicycle and taught me how to ride it. And he's bought me many cool toys like a TV game and a microscope.
Yes, I used to fall asleep on the couch while watching TV and my daddy used to carry me to my bed.
Yes, they both look very good in pictures of him and my mom in their early twenties!
Yes, he doesn't always crack jokes, but when he does, they usually hilarious!
When I was a kid, I used to suffer from excruciating ear pains and kept them both up through the night with my bawling. He would place his large hands over my ears to keep them warm till I calmed down.
Yes, he does that ALL the time! He would be very restless if he didn't have gadgets, appliances and vehicles to fix.
I'm not sure if my Daddy tried this when I was a baby.
Yes, my Daddy is one of the kindest and gentlest souls I know.
Yes, my Daddy's never short of ideas!
And how fortunate that he is my Daddy!
Yes, my Mummy is so adventurous that I've been to many interesting places and situations in her company. She's always pushed me to be bold and open to new adventures!
Yes, I made my Mummy run in circles around the house and tell made-up stories, just so she can feed me a plate of food. Most Asian children are spoilt like that.
Yes, my Mummy's been very protective and watched us over like a hawk. She still tries to help in every way possible even though I am miles away from home.
Yes, my Mummy's taught me countless little things that still make good sense and has made me the independent and strong willed woman I am today.
Yes, my Mummy is very pretty! Even in her 60's.
Yes, my Mummy's the one in the family who loves to hug and kiss everyone the most!
Yes, my Mummy still does when I go home for the holidays. And she constantly thinks of her children who are overseas whenever she makes their favourite food.
Yes, my Mummy does love perfumes!
Yes, after my Mummy managed to catch me (a once-mischievous kid) first. If not for her perseverance, I would have been very happy to go for months without a bath.
Yes, my Mummy loves to sing and has a huge collection of tracks in her internal jukebox, spanning several languages!
Yes, my Mummy is always warm and I still feel safe knowing she is around.
Lucky for my Mummy, I am a deep sleeper! She even used to give me haircuts while I was asleep.
Yes, I used to tag along with her to most places she went, mostly clinging on her handbag. No matter how old or independent we get, our mothers will always look to us as their children.
I'm sure the twins won't feel the emotions I felt when I read these books, but I hope they enjoy them, when I hand it over during Christmas dinner at their house tomorrow!
This year, I couldn't be home to celebrate my nephew's 7th birthday with the rest of the family. Instead, I had to send his present early through one of my friends flying back to Sri Lanka. Through a lucky coincidence, the gift reached him on his birthday day after travelling many miles across the seas, just moments after he cut his cake! It wasn't too hard to pick his gift which included a Minecraft Construction Manual, a few dinosaur eggs from the zoo gift shop which I hear just hatched in a jar of water and a glow-in-the-dark plastic skeleton as tall as him (I warned his mother not to freak out when it glows at night).
The skeleton was an obvious choice because he showed promising signs of being a bone expert in his school assignment (see picture below). I thought it was pretty good advice for preventing osteoporosis, coming from a 6-year old. It also made me realise how little we appreciate our "butt bones", that help us sit and do fun things like blog!
The nephew's handiwork. We are all proud of his imagination.
