When I was younger, my parents used to have parties, at least once a year. They weren't birthday parties or Christmas parties, as we didn't celebrate those occasions. They were parties just because they wanted to have fun with us and give us some gifts. We three boys always looked forward to those days. We never really knew exactly when they would occur, but a sure sign was our parents bringing home large boxes that they quickly stashed away in their room somewhere.
Sometimes, being the nosey pre-teens that we were, my brothers and I would sneak into our parents' room and see if we could find these presents. Sometimes we were successful, sometimes we weren't. The pesky things were usually on the top shelf in their closet and we couldn't reach.
The day of the party the presents came out - all artfully wrapped. We were usually given cone-shaped party hats and those incredibly annoying blow whistle thingamajigs. We opened presents, one at a time, until all three of us had opened one. Then the process would start over again. I'd usually be given two or three gifts, but never more or less than my two other brothers. Back then, the gifts usually included some form of new Lego set, or new Hot Wheels. Sometimes we'd get something out of the ordinary like a telescope or baseball equipment. After the gifts were opened, we'd all sit down at the table and eat cake. These were some of the best memories of my childhood.
One such occasion, circa the summer of 1987, was probably the party day I remember the most. It was the day we were given our very own Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).
If I recall correctly, it was a Friday evening and we knew the party itself was coming, but this was one of those times where our parents hit the gifts well enough that we didn't find them. We were all a bit bummed when we found out we were only getting one gift each. What was that all about? This was going to be a lame party, we wanted more! Cake wasn't enough to mask the fact that we were only getting one gift. But then, after we were done opening our single individual gift, my dad went back into his room. A few moments later he emerged with one more carefully wrapped gift. He told us it was for all three of us. What could they possibly give us that we would all want to share? This was beyond lame, totally bogus! (Yes, we used that word back then...) I could picture it now, us three boys fighting over who could use whatever was in that box at any given time. There would be blood, there would be tears.
With a somewhat resentful attitude, we all joined in tearing the wrapping paper off and there in front of us was a box that contained our very first video game system. It even came with two games - Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt. Suddenly, our demeanor went from bummed to ZOMG! (a "word" we did not use back then) when we saw that NES box sitting there. It was on that day that I became a gamer.
Sometimes, being the nosey pre-teens that we were, my brothers and I would sneak into our parents' room and see if we could find these presents. Sometimes we were successful, sometimes we weren't. The pesky things were usually on the top shelf in their closet and we couldn't reach.
The day of the party the presents came out - all artfully wrapped. We were usually given cone-shaped party hats and those incredibly annoying blow whistle thingamajigs. We opened presents, one at a time, until all three of us had opened one. Then the process would start over again. I'd usually be given two or three gifts, but never more or less than my two other brothers. Back then, the gifts usually included some form of new Lego set, or new Hot Wheels. Sometimes we'd get something out of the ordinary like a telescope or baseball equipment. After the gifts were opened, we'd all sit down at the table and eat cake. These were some of the best memories of my childhood.
One such occasion, circa the summer of 1987, was probably the party day I remember the most. It was the day we were given our very own Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).
If I recall correctly, it was a Friday evening and we knew the party itself was coming, but this was one of those times where our parents hit the gifts well enough that we didn't find them. We were all a bit bummed when we found out we were only getting one gift each. What was that all about? This was going to be a lame party, we wanted more! Cake wasn't enough to mask the fact that we were only getting one gift. But then, after we were done opening our single individual gift, my dad went back into his room. A few moments later he emerged with one more carefully wrapped gift. He told us it was for all three of us. What could they possibly give us that we would all want to share? This was beyond lame, totally bogus! (Yes, we used that word back then...) I could picture it now, us three boys fighting over who could use whatever was in that box at any given time. There would be blood, there would be tears.
With a somewhat resentful attitude, we all joined in tearing the wrapping paper off and there in front of us was a box that contained our very first video game system. It even came with two games - Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt. Suddenly, our demeanor went from bummed to ZOMG! (a "word" we did not use back then) when we saw that NES box sitting there. It was on that day that I became a gamer.
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1 comment:
Ahhh yes, the family parties. The only one I remember was sometime when you were in high school.
It was the last one and I had to be in grade school sometime. To think, the three of you say us younger two are spoiled! Bah! You had twice as many parties!
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