New Friends and Old

Despite the fact that we don't go all out on gifts for the holiday, our kids get their fair share. Not only do they get plenty of gifts from us, but they get from two sets of grandparents, and the aunt/uncle/cousin lot on both sides of the family. Kids these days are lavished upon compared to what we got back in the day. When we were little, we had to walk a mile uphill, in the snow, just to get our gifts. Or something like that.

We had 3 different Christmases here. The kids got gifts at each one, of course. Micah loved this, and that, and just about everything. Including some things that weren't even his. But it was the very last gift that he opened that stood far and above the others. It was a new Woody doll. He oooohed and aaaahed, then gave New Woody the dance test. If Woody doesn't dance exactly just so on the hardwood, he's a loser of a toy and not worthy of playtime. New Woody passed the test. We didn't see Micah for the rest of the holiday celebration. He and New Woody were getting well acquainted on the stairs, dancing up and down each one.

After the party, Micah found Old Woody in the aftermath of the chaos. He had New Woody meet Old Woody and they danced a jig together on the hardwood in reunion. With one doll in each hand, Micah looked back and forth between them, obviously weighing in on a favorite. He walked over to the toybox, slowly extended his hand, and almost regretfully dropped Old Woody into it. It was rather sad.

But new isn't always better. Despite the fact that New Woody won out on the day he was new, Old Woody has been the go-to cowboy every day since. It's good to know that best friends can't be replaced, just given a break every now and then.