One of my favorite childhood Christmas Eve memories is of my grandfather giving me an inflatable reindeer toy similar to the one pictured here. I loved that thing. I later found out from my mom that he had gotten the reindeer free with a fill-up of gasoline for his car at a local gas station. Little kids are pleased with simple things. When our kids were little they would open their presents and end up playing with the empty boxes, using their imaginations to make houses, boats, cars, buses, trains, etc.
It seems that in today's world, less and less is left to the imagination. Toys ring with buzzers and bells, dolls talk, go potty, sing and dance. Too many toys do not allow a child to pretend. There is enough time in their future for reality. Childhood should be a time for fantasy, fun, and "magic".
Back to the blow-up reindeer. I searched for years for one in the stores and a few years ago I couldn't believe my eyes when I found one at a local store. It has a leak which I am trying to find, but I will not throw it away. I hope to find the leak and patch it so I can set him under the tree.
Other people aren't really impressed with plastic, blow-up Rudolph, but it brings back memories for me of a simpler time when people had real trees and the big, fat colored lights and messy tinsel that hung like icicles on the bows of real trees. A time when people were satisfied with simple things.
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