By: Lora Wimsatt
Without coming right out and saying so – well, okay, maybe she did say so – my daughter let me know I needn’t bother trying to buy clothing for my granddaughter.
“You and Briley have a different sense of style,” Beth said.
I was vaguely miffed. I personally believe Briley would rather wear jeans and cowboy boots than all those frills and ruffles, but I’m willing to concede this battle until Briley is old enough to speak up for herself.
But with Christmas approaching, I’m left wandering the stores in search of gifts for my two grandgirls. They are not quite 2 years old, and let’s be honest. They have both already accumulated more toys than they know what to do with. I don’t remember seeing that many toys in the old Sears Wish Book.
Most of their toys turn on, plug in, light up, make noise and are, in my old-fashioned opinion, totally bizarre. Whatever happened to an old stuffed dog that did nothing but listen to your secrets, and dolls that did nothing but let you cuddle them? The only “moving parts” I think are appropriate for toys are puzzle pieces and blocks, and the only things I think should “light up” are a child’s eyes when playing with a beloved teddy bear.
I know times change. I know I’m fighting a losing battle.
Maybe my grandmother felt this way about corncob dolls.
But in the meantime, Christmas was coming, and I wanted something special to put under the tree for Briley and Lyla. Something they would keep, and love, and remember. Something that did not require batteries.
I trudged despairingly up and down every toy aisle in town. I don’t even know what I was looking for, but I never found it.
Then, most unexpectedly, there it was: The perfect gift.
I was at the office, and one of my co-workers – a gal who would definitely dress a little girl in frills and ruffles – was showing an apron she and her mother had made.
Everyone else was cooing over the appliqués, and I have to admit, they were adorable. Me, I was fingering the sturdy material, thinking to myself that this apron would stand up to years of rolling out dough and cutting out cookies and stirring batter and breading pork chops …
I could smell the cinnamon and vanilla already.
I ordered two.
The aprons will be wrapped and under my tree for Christmas day. My daughter and daughter-in-law will be pleased – and surprised – that I selected their favorite pattern (polka dots) in their favorite colors (brown and pink), even though I don’t like polka dots and I don’t think those colors go together at all.
They will tease me about finally finding an article of clothing for their daughters that isn’t made out of red plaid flannel or tooled leather.
I’ll just smile. Because as cute as they are, the aprons are really not the gift.
The gift is the memories we will make together when my grandgirls wear them.