A few years ago I got a present from "John" (they were always actually picked out by my mom) and was a little disappointed to get some cheesy framed art. But then I found out that John had actually picked it out himself! I had always imagined what the process was like. John was particularly good at picking out toys for the nephews. In fact, one year he created the biggest Christmas fight I'd ever seen because both his picks for the babies were so good they started fighting over them.A couple days ago I found out John had not yet bought presents for anyone, and so I said I was taking him the next morning! Russell and Sarah Jane wanted to tag along, and Mom had to drive us. So we arrived at Target and left Mom to her shopping while we watched John in action.
It took about 10 minutes for John to get over telling us that he was buying everyone "Mortal Kombat Wii" (which is what he wants...and which only exists for PS3 and not Wii...tomorrow morning is not going to go well...). But finally we got down to business. We would tell John who he was shopping for, and then we would just follow him around while he picked out gifts. I can't put on here what John got for Mom and Dad since they haven't seen them yet, but everything else will be REVEALED HERE!
Here was John's pick for Sarah Jane: a large purse.
John wandered around the store for a long time trying to find something for me. Finally he turned around, said "Rachel" and gave me a big hug. It was darling. Then he picked out this greeting card. Read what the card says:
The card is even better because when you open it, it plays "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!" John is amazing! And cheap--he didn't want to buy me anything else! Finally before we left he picked out a bracelet for me, too.Next he had to find something for Russell, and we wound up here:
He picked out a box of strawberry frosted mini-wheats. He put them in the cart, and then we asked if they were for John or Russell. He admitted they were for John, so I wrapped them up and put them under the tree with a "To John From John" note.Then John ended up here again. I guess he figured the greeting card for me was such a hit he'd do the same thing for Russell.
He picked out this card for Russell. I like that all the cards he looked at for Russell said "For A Fun Boy."
We insisted that John buy something more for Russell than just a card, so he said "iPod." So we went to the iPod section of Target.
Russell had to talk John out of buying him an iPod and just getting headphones instead. John was not very pleased with this.
Oh, and guess where John was when it came time to pay?
That's right--he ditched us to go hang out with Mom while Russell, Sarah Jane, and I had to pay for John's gifts!
(Bad news for James, Emily, Harris, Jack, and Will:
John didn't buy you anything. Sorry.)
Merry Christmas!!!
Hilarious! John is a very good gift giver--he knows you all well. Merry Christmas!
ReplyDeleteIsn't Target amazing? I had no idea John was so savvy with Target's offerings. We loved seeing you on Tuesday, too.
ReplyDeleteFinal Mortal Combat compromise: Dad found one for Nintendo DS Lite. At least the exploding heads will be smaller!
ReplyDeleteSeriously one of my favorite John stories ever. I love the "To John, From John" gift! And Barbara's Mortal Combat (wii) workaround. Good thinking!
ReplyDeleteAlso, the cards are priceless! John is such a good gift giver. Can I borrow him next year? There are a few people on my list I'm always stumped about.
Love John, love you! Love this post!
This is the best blog post you have ever posted...and you have posted some good ones. I nominate this to go in the BEST OF catagory!
ReplyDeleteMuch love! Yay TUESDAY!
This was a laughing/crying experience for me---reading this. I can see John doing this "assignment" exactly as you describe. And the hood! I remember when we took John to tour a plane before your mom and dad took him to Disneyland. He was in Third Grade? And when we got out of the car he INSISTED on wearing the hood of his jacket AND on carrying his metal lunch pail. He bore a striking resemblance to the uni-bomber!! John is ---well, John is John. Amazing. I never stop missing him. Or speaking John speak.
ReplyDeleteOh, John. I always love a good John story. He's awesome, and I'm glad to hear he is doing well.
ReplyDeleteThis is amazing - I want to go shopping with John! Speaking of, Nate went shopping with Braden to Wal-Mart and asked Braden what he wanted to get (his) Mom for Christmas. He said, "A really pretty dress." Nate said, "Braden, this is Wal-Mart, they don't have those here." Braden was sad, but he picked out some AMAZING earrings . . . wish I had a pic. A cross between stained glass and beauty pageant.
ReplyDeleteJohn was obsessing about Target yesterday during speech therapy. Since he was sitting at a computer with internet access, I pulled up this post and John read parts of it to his speech therapist. See how you help with his therapy! You are putting to use your psychology degree after all.
ReplyDelete