Day 6 - All I want for Christmas

Well this is the tale of the Christmas gift that never was. There was obviously disappointment at the time - I mean I was 6 or 7 at the time....

You see that Cabbage Patch doll?

Yeah?

Well here's the story:

It's amazing how selective your memory can be when it comes to the Christmases of past. Especially when it comes to the gifts you dreamt 10 months in advance of seeing under the tree as a kid. Didn't we all covet the Argos and Kays catalog toy section months before the big day and start mentally penning our detailed letters to Santa?

Well as a child of the 80's and one very susceptible to the pressures of Svengali-style advertising (read: that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!) I longed, truly longed to see my very own Cabbage Patch doll under the tree on Christmas day. I know, they were so ugly, what was I thinking??? Just what was I thinking?? Especially when you consider Exhibit A…

But it was the 80's, most things were ugly.

I'm sad to report that this was the time in the 80's when for a few years running there were never enough Cabbage Patch dolls to go round in the UK, and those that were available were extortionately priced. Naturally, us children were never wise to the pitfalls faced by our wonderful parents when it came to the pre-Christmas toy rush! So bad my disappointment must have been as I have completely blocked the trauma from my memory. I just remember that this was the one gift that I wanted so much but never received. I am pretty sure that every adult has a similar scenario playing in their memory when they look back on their childhood. Even my mother tells me it was her biggest regret that they couldn't have bought me one, now I just pretty guilty about the whole thing, especially since the Cabbage Patch doll-less Christmas was followed by the amazing Christmas that saw me receive my biggest Christmas surprise as a kid.

The My Little Pony Dream Castle!

Did I say I was a child of the 80's?

My gosh it was so unexpected that I was just glued to it for days after, I even had to take Majesty and Spike to church with me I was that over the moon.

So it just goes to show, those disappointing Christmases can be overwritten and even erased - it just takes a little Christmas cheer and, OK, a whammy of a surprise for the ones that you love!

And now for the close-ups:

A bit of KI colour and vintage KI Winter papers and tags plus alpha stickers, SEI pearl and crystal brads, MM tags, rub-ons, Heidi Grace acrylic hearts and my new Judikins bauble stamp. :oD

Comments

[Latharia]

Too funny! Love your memories!!!! And so beautifully rendered!

[Betsy]

Your stuff is beautiful!! I have really enjoyed looking at all of your pages. I hope to post some of my own next week when my time opens up a bit. I notice that you have a Pink Martini CD on your side bar-they are so great. i live in Portland where thomas lauderdale lives and it so fun to spot him around town. Again love your work.

[Chiara]

Great entry. I love the colors you used

[Jennifer]

Love your page and journaling. I feel so bad for you and your never to be CPK. I had one, but even here in the States my mom had to meet the delivery truck for weeks on end just for the hope that one would be here. I finally got one, but that was my one and only. Now my daughter is getting one from my mom this year for Christmas. And she loves the My Little Pony stuff like I did too. :)

[Barb]

Love this entry!
I feel guilty for saying this, but I remember the Christmas when I got my Cabbage Patch doll.

[iralamija]

I LOVE everything here!!! love it love it!!!

Bety.

[bev]

So I got a cabbage patch doll for christmas (or it may have been my birthday - I think it was my birthday), but the truely embarrasing thing was that it was something like my 18th birthday.... I was way too old to be wanting such a thing, and plenty old enough to know that they were expensive and pointless, but I really really wanted one, and so my mum bought me one. I still have it, my girls play with it, and it's still quite ugly.

[Eleni Gratsia]

Lovely, lovely! I know these were popular ALL over ... adoption papers and all! Have you heard that in the States a parent whose child was devasted after the doll had been attacked and ruined by a dog, sent it back to the company, probably in hopes of getting a replacement. Well guess what the company sent back? A death certificate!!!! LOL

[debra]

love your page, can so relate last christmas I got my daughter a cabbage doll because of the same reason... :)

Debra

[Nat]

LOL - awesome layout - I had to lauhg about the Cabbage Doll - I guess that was a big rave in the UK - bahahaha

[Heather]

Great journalling, and I love the colours in this entry.

[Scrapdolly]

Absolutely fab page but what an awesome blog
I haven't visited before and will be back soon for a proper look around. It is fab
x

[Julie Ann Shahin]

I never got a real CP doll either - I think they gave me a really cheap generic one but I loved that generic one so much! LOL

[Sarah]

Oh Nat - love your pages - they are so colourful! I had that my little pony castle and LOVED it. The little drawbridge and the turrets. I want one now!