What was your best Christmas gift?

I though it was about time I actually post on our blog. I was intending to be on top of posting maybe a couple of times a week, but once the blog was set up Julie was off and running. And doing a fine job! So now the pressure is on to meet the standard she set and come up with a good post. Here I go. It looks like Christmas is approaching fast. This reminds me of the best Christmas gift I ever got. I was 7 years old and living in Dallas, Tx. My family was in the mists of moving to Phoenix, Az. I was more than apprehensive about the move. My parents still talk about how I drove them nut with all the questions I asked about Phoenix. And I thought there were no bad questions. Anyway, My first grade Teacher Mrs Parker and I had built a strong relationship that year. Initially I was scared of Mrs Parker. She had a reputation of being all business. I was one of the older kids in the class due to my September birthday, and it was like she expected more from me. She pushed me from the get go. I did not like her. After a month Mrs Parker and I started to click. I was doing more work, had more responsibilities, and more privileges than the rest of the class. On the last day before the Christmas break, my last day at school before we moved, Mrs Parker pulled me aside and told me that she was going to miss me and that I was her best student in the class and gave me a gift. It was a pocket knife. When you are a 7 year old boy or really a male of any age there is a central question you ask yourself, " Am I man enough?" It's a question of status really. Am I man enough to climb this fence? Am I man enough to run faster than this kid? Am I man enough to catch this ball? Do I have what it takes to hang upside down on the monkey bars? To skip bars or go backwards on the monkey bars? Can I jump off the top of this slide? How long can I pop a wheelie? These are the questions of little boys. Am I man enough to have my own pocketknife? Mrs Parker said yes. It was a great gift.

So what was the best Christmas gift you ever got? Was it a special dolly? Maybe a truck or a G I Joe? Was it jewelry? Tell us.