(Don’t mistake the title of this…Baba has no children, regardless of what “Baba” translates to in English.)
Usually, my mother asks for something small for Christmas.  Socks and stuff like that.  It was always cool because she was the most economical gift-receiver in my circle.  We could make her happy for less than $20, in most cases.
This year, she wanted a Wii.  She went to someone’s house and played the bowling and tennis games, and that was enough to get her hooked.
So, as if it wasn’t enough that she now wanted something that cost more than two bills, she wanted something that was impossible to find.  Great.
My brother and I had people in about four different states on the hunt.  We had my cousin go to Nintendo World in Rockefeller Plaza, and she had no luck.  Kirk thought he’d heard of a place that had them, and he got there just a half hour late.  Someone won a Wii in an office drawing at his gig, and he even offered to pay list price and then some for it, but the guy had kids.  No dice.  I’ve got a buddy that works at Game Stop, and he couldn’t help.  The Wii mission looked a dead end.
Then, on Christmas Eve, I went to my cousin Keenan’s house.  We’re watching “Dodgeball” on FX, and I look down and see a Wii.  My cousin then tells me that he doesn’t even play it.  I then say how badly my mother wants a Wii for Christmas…and had a Eureka! moment.
I got my cousin to let me borrow his Wii until we could get a Wii from the store.  Then, I wrapped up the Wii and put it under the tree.  Moms thought we had no Wii, and now we had one.  I must say, I was proud of myself for coming up with that one.
(I’m sure some of you are thinking it’s bootleg for me to give my mother a borrowed Wii for Christmas.  I’ll just say this–how many people you know that brought a Wii home on Christmas Eve?  That’s what I thought.
Also, keep in mind that only a mother could love a borrowed gift.  Good thing it was for me I was getting something for my mother.)
My brother and his wife didn’t make it in until the afternoon, so we couldn’t do presents in the morning like we usually do.  They got here, then we ate wit a bunch of family friends.  Decent stuff.  Soon after, a slew of cousins–which isn’t used literally here, but might as well be–fall through, including Keenan.  That was extra cool, because he could be here for the gift presentation.
Then his sister spilled the beans.  She asked my mother how she was enjoying the Wii, somehow ignoring the massive collection of unopened presents under the tree.  Another cousin’s wife told on us, also.
My brother then quoted “Glengary Glen Ross”…
“Don’t open your mouth if you don’t know the play.”
I swear, this was the coolest thing I’d ever come up with.  I had my out-of-the-movies “I saved Christmas” moment.  I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t disappointing not to get the moment where she opened the Wii.  I even tucked the present at the very back of the tree, in the corner, so that it would be the last gift.  One of those moments I ain’t getting back.
But I got one that’ll last a while.  We got the Wii hooked up, and a few people started playing the bowling game.  Moms played first.
This was the first time I’ve ever gotten to watch her play with her toys on Christmas.  I don’t think I ever looked that happy about a toy.  For further proof, I offer the evidence that I went and saw my buddy’s niece this morning, and she showed me her toys before asking me to play a game with her that involved bouncing a balloon off the top of a shoebox a set number of times.
I mean, she jumped up and down after she rolled a strike.  She high-fived people, and that ain’t quite how she’s wired.  At some point, she screamed out “I want one!” in reference to the Wii.  She was thrilled.
I haven’t opened a single gift of my own yet, but I can’t remember a Christmas moment like that one.