MY SURPRISE GIFT

I am NOTORIOUS for guessing presents. My first married Christmas, my mother-in-law mailed our packages from Florida. We opened the large shipping boxes to find brightly wrapped presents inside. As I picked up each present and read the label, I would shake the box and say something like, "Hmmm, feels like a pair of jeans." Turns out I was right on every package. My new husband jokingly informed me that I had ruined Christmas.

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One of my closest friends doubted my gift guessing abilities. I was at her house and she told me her father had been trying to guess his Christmas gift for a couple weeks. She dared me to try and guess, confident that I wouldn't have a clue. I begged her, "Louise, please. I don't want to ruin your dad's Christmas." Finally, after she dumped the present in my lap, I picked it up. "Are you sure you want me to do this?" I asked. "Go ahead. I am telling you there is NO WAY you will guess this." I picked it up. Shook it and pronounced, "A set of rachets." I will never forget the look of disbelief on her face! Or how hard her dad was laughing!

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My daughter's first Christmas, my brother said, "You will never guess what I got Rachel for Christmas!" "Volume 2 of the Beatrix Potter books?" There was no gift or package involved to shake this time, but once again...nailed it. He had that same shocked look on his face that Louise had a few years earlier.

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That brings me to this year. I knew what my daughter was getting me for Christmas because she needed me to help pick out the model I wanted. But then she put this other gift under the tree and said, "This is your surprise gift. Be very careful because it is fragile." Oh, you know that I tried to feel the package, but very I did so very gingerly because I was afraid to break it. I had no clue. The weeks before Christmas, I would ponder and ponder. Gentle little prying poke of the package. Nothing.

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Christmas morning I could not wait to find out what this was. She had wrapped a water bottle and flip flop to throw me off (yes, that is a photo of the actual thing). My REAL surprise gift was Season 2 of The Office. She knew if she had wrapped that up I would have probably guessed it.

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I think I had that same confounded look that my brother and my friend had had on their faces when I opened my surprise gift. I laughed for about 20 minutes. And now, my daughter has become legend for out-witting her mom. This will be my favorite gift for years to come!!!