Post your entries into the Best “Child’s Gift Story” for the 2020 Solitaire TriPeaks Heartfelt Holidays Contest here!
These short (3 to 4 paragraphs maximum) stories should be either a gift you gave or received as a child, or a story about a child you know or are related to who received a memorable gift.
My sister and I had the best Christmas gifts when we were just adolescences in the early 1980’s. We were given an Atari game and new albums. Spent the day playing Frogger and listened to REO Speedwagon!
The best childhood gift was back in the 80’s. I got my first boom box from “santa”. The only thing my mom didnt realize was us kids saw the tag was written in her handwriting!
The Loudest Christmas
I grew up in a household where music lessons were required. Both of my parents played clarinet and my older sister played piano. So after I had taken piano lessons for about 4 years and tirelessly refused to practice, I was looking for a way out.
“I want to play the drums”, I said to my mom. I loved music with a good beat and I thought drums would be a good fit for me. So my wish for Christmas that year would be a drum set.
Christmas morning I get up and look downstairs by the tree and what do I see? No drum set that’s for sure. But there were plenty of gifts. So I get to open my gifts one at a time until the very last one - a pair of drum sticks.
“What am I supposed to do with these?” I asked. “I don’t have any drums.” To which my mom replied “you might want to look in the basement.” So I did. And what do you know? There was my drum set. And that turned out to be the loudest Christmas ever!
I was in 2nd grade. We made construction paper stockings in class. I was so excited because I never had a stocking for Christmas. I took it home and my mom said that Santa wouldn’t have anything to put in it because he didn’t know that I had a stocking. Christmas morning I came down and it didn’t look like anything was in the stocking. We opened presents under the tree then my oldest brother Joe said did you check you stocking? I went over and there were 2 tickets to the nutcracker ballet Christmas matinee show! He took me to my first ballet that day. I absolutely loved it. When we returned home…my father and other brother Tony had used all my mixes for my Easy Bake Oven! But it was ok. I had spent a wonderful day with my favorite brother in Philadelphia.
I was probably only about 2 years old and was experiencing my second Christmas. My parents wanted to give me an expensive and beautiful gift, and they were excited to see my reaction when I opened it.
I was in Dad’s arms as we opened the beautiful package. As I looked on, they took out the gift: a clown doll. I still remember taking one look, screaming, and turning away. I don’t recall what happened to the doll, but to this day (and I’m almost 70) I get a creepy feeling whenever I see a clown.
I recently lost my son to cystic fibrosis and leukemia… Last week I received a text from a out of town fb friend to look outside for a package. I found the package , opened it up and it was a shadow box with all handmade purple roses in it with the inscription on the glass “ your wings were ready but our hearts were not… JOSHUA LEE BRADFORD… My angel son kept whispering to my fb friend over and over to her. Please make this for my mama…
This was the best gift I have ever received! The idea came from heaven( my son) and asked a person I had never met to make it for me… I cry about it every day, it means everything to me… What a miracle story from beginning to end…
The friend I help out often has a son who is now 13. He was given an assignment for school what he would like for Christmas. He said he would like some xbox gift cards, some money, typical teenage things, but the last one broke my heart. He wanted his dad to be able to walk again. His dad has been a quadriplegic since his son was 6 weeks old. That just broke my heart for him. 
The best gift I have ever given my daughter is a ruler of 1 meter. She had wanted for over 1 year, so mom had to get started with the creative abilities. She was so proud when she cycled to school, with it out of her school bag
A post was merged into an existing topic: BEST “DOING FOR OTHERS” STORY (2020 Heartfelt Holidays Contest)
Even though I lost my dog my son gave me a grandbaby he is 1 month old so that softens the blow of my broken heart losing my dog spike
My brother-in-law, David, wanted to find out what my 4 year old nephew, Mike, wanted for Christmas without asking, so he took him to see Santa. David was too far away to overhear what Mike said. David broke down and asked, “What did you ask Santa to get you?” Mike’s reply? “You’ll find out when I get it!”
David decided on a bike as the prefect gift. Christmas morning, Mike went downstairs, looked at the bike, and said, “Oh, just what I always wanted…a helmet!”
We couldn’t wait to see what Mike would be when he grew up. He’s a graphic designer, animator, and computer programmer.
My husband and I were unable to conceive so we decided February of 2014 to become foster parents. We became a family of four in as little as three weeks after the classes and training. We welcomed a boy and a girl into our home. They had lived in eight different homes before they came to us. These sweet kids looked just like us. As if they were chosen by Him to be with us. We knew after a few short nights that we would work to adopt them. To adopt children from the foster system is very hard. It took a long time as well as many court dates and hearings. Those two kids wanted nothing more than to stop being in foster care and have a forever home.
We went to see Santa at the annual Christmas at the zoo. The oldest boy told Santa that the only thing he wanted for Christmas was for him and his sister to be adopted. And on December 23rd I got the call that we had finally had the states approval to adopt.
Santa had written a very special letter and placed it in the tree. It was addresses to both kids. When he read the letter he screamed and jumped up and down. His younger sister said, we never have to move again? We can be a family forever? By far the most amazing moment and joy we’ve ever experienced.
I had been telling my 4 year old daughter she better not be naughty or Santa would give her coal for Christmas. (Meaning only coal and no presents.) On Christmas morning, we always start with stockings first that I fill with little gifts and candy, and this year I had found some candy “coal” and placed it inside the top of every stocking.
All the children came downstairs, laughing and happy. I passed out stockings first. After a moment, I realized my youngest looked like she could burst out crying at any moment. She wasn’t emptying her stocking, and was actually holding it behind her back.
The poor thing had seen the candy coal and thought Santa thought she was naughty and was devastated! She had tried to be good, and was sad that Santa thought she wasn’t good enough, and didn’t want her Dad and I to know!!
After explaining that the coal was just a silly joke Santa was playing on her, and that he gave it to her brothers and sister too, she was able to laugh it off and enjoy Christmas. But she is 17 now, and still reminds me about the Christmas morning coal debacle every year!
Best Child’s Gift Story by Shirley Prentice
We have three kids who gave us 10 wonderful grandchildren and all but one of them are now teenagers and 3 are in their 20’s. We started giving them money instead of gifts several years ago but I have always missed giving them wrapped gifts and watching them open them. Last year before Christmas, I was in The Dollar Store when I had a lightbulb moment! I bought 10 gifts that were completely enclosed in plastic packaging. I took them home and very carefully opened them and put the money where it wouldn’t be found without a little effort. Then I wrapped them and waited for big day.
Time for gift exchange! I handed out all the gifts and they began opening! Oh what fun!!! The boys opened their laser pens and began playing with them! The girls were comparing and talking about their make up kits! Then the youngest opened her Elsa flashlight and when it didn’t work, she opened it to see if it had a battery and pulled the $50 Bill out!!Then the scramble began!!! They all grabbed up their discarded packaging and began digging around to find their money!!! It made giving cash so much more fun but the thing that warmed our hearts was that they were all happy with Gramma and Poppa’s Dollar Store gifts way before they found the cash! And THAT was a precious gift of love to us!!!
My best to birthday present was when I was 10 years old my baby sister soon to be born was my baby unfortunately she was born a few days later on Halloween
When my daughter was little bought her a tricycle and a Barney toy put barny on tricycle with string attached and she followed the string to the tricycle and yelled with excitement Barney she didn’t even notice the tricycle
My favorite child’s gift story is about a gift I received from my then 6 year old son. You see, I suffer from auto immune diseases that cause severe pain and make my body so weak… to the point where I can no longer use my legs.
This particular year was extremely difficult, including financially, so we were only able to get a few gifts for our four children. I was shocked to find a gift tucked in the branches of our artificial tree for me. Inside was the most beautiful “silver” necklace with a “diamond” snowflake hanging from it. My son used his chore money to buy everyone gifts from his school’s holiday store. This one was extra special because of the poem inside. It honestly still makes me cry to this day. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do:
Each snowflake is unique, its true
And like a snowflake, so are you
Sparkling in your own special way
You brighten each and everyday
Best… Christmas… Ever… <3
How to walk around the Christmas tree
When I was 12 all I wanted for Christmas was a black beach cruiser. That year, When all the presents were unwrapped, I sighed heavy as I not gotten a bike. I was so sad. My dad called me over to the Christmas tree and told me to look inside the Christmas tree. I looked and there was nothing there. My dad walked around the entire tree and said look again inside the tree. This time, I walked around the entire tree and to my surprise I found an envelope with my name on it.
Excitedly, I opened the envelope to find a treasure map. It first took me to my bedroom to look under my pillow. Next, it had me in the bathroom looking through cabinets. Then, I was taken down the street to my friends house underneath her slide. The treasure map directed me to go in my backyard and look behind our chimney. There, behind the chimney was my black beach cruiser. I rode that bike all night.
When my grandson was 4 we bought him his first bike for Christmas. We always like to wrap every gift so finding a way to wrap it so noone could tell what it was was difficult. We had also done some black Friday shopping for ourselves. We had purchased a shop vac for my husband. We decided to use the box from the shop vac to wrap the bike. We had to take the handle bars off so that it would fit. When he unwrapped the box he was so excited to see it was a vacuum. He loved to vacuum so I guess it would have been his perfect gift. When he opened the box and found out it was not a vacuum this child was distraught. There was no bicycle going to replace the vacuum he thought he was getting. It was hilarious but he finally learned to love his bike