A doll that talks
My parents were two workers who had to take care of everything concerning the house: electricity, water, gas; they also had to cover the needs of their four daughters, in terms of food, clothing, education and recreation.
December was a month of great expense for them. Thank God they worked and at that time they received a kind of Christmas bonus with which they could make extra expenses. Likewise, I must say that our parents had raised us, their four daughters, with a “feeling of fairness and thrift.”
"Mom, I want a hot dog".
"No. If I buy one for you, I'm going to have to buy them all.
Besides, there's food at home,” Mom always said, and we had no right to kick and cry. Our parents used this reasoning for everything: to buy ice cream, new shoes or to take us to the movies:
"If I take you to the movies, Nancy, I must take your sisters and your sisters don't want to go to the movies" - they would argue and no one was going anywhere.
"Remember that you are not the only girls and Baby Jesus has to give gifts to all the children in the world",_ our parents would explain to us and although we did not like that reasoning, we accepted it because we were good and obedient girls.
But that year, big dolls that talked were in fashion. They came with little discs that were inserted in the back and the doll would sing and wave. Television promoted them and we would jump for joy when we saw a doll, which was almost our size, singing Los pollitos, El barquito chiquito and saying: Hello, how are you?
"I want a big doll that talks" -I wrote in my letter, with perfect handwriting and drew hearts, trying to make Baby Jesus like my letter more than the others.
"I want a big doll too,” said each of my sisters and they wrote that on the letter. Since our parents had told us that those dolls were expensive and that Baby Jesus was a poor child, we only asked for one and only one thing, nothing else. All four of us wanted a big talking doll.
The next day, when we woke up, we looked under the bed and found nothing. I remember that each one of us looked in a corner and found nothing. We were on the verge of crying, when my mom started to help us look and magically opened the closet and there it was: a big doll. Not four, not three, not two. Just one.
We started jumping up and down with joy. Suddenly, my older sister asked the famous question:
"And whose doll is it?" -Our expectant eyes looked at mom and dad.
"The doll belongs to all of us. The baby Jesus told us that if he brought four dolls here, other girls would be left without toys. We told him to leave only one because you are very close and share". And we, who were little girls, nodded with a smile on our lips and shouted with happiness, not only because we were lucky enough to have a big doll at home, but also because thanks to us, other girls would also have their dolls.
All images are free of charge and the text is my own, translated in Deepl
Thank you for reading and commenting. Until a future reading, friends
Click here to read in spanish
Una muñeca que habla
La historia es tan particular, que cada tanto la cuentan en casa, cuando llega diciembre, para hablar de cómo el Niño Jesús hace milagros con los juguetes.
Mis padres eran dos trabajadores que debían darse cuenta de todo lo concerniente de la casa: luz, agua, gas; también debían cubrir las necesidades de sus cuatro hijas, en cuanto a comida, vestimenta, educación y recreación.
Diciembre era un mes de mucho gasto para ellos. Gracias a Dios trabajaban y en esa época cobraban una especie de Bono navideño con el que se podía hacer gastos extras. Igualmente, debo decir que nuestros padres nos habían criado, a sus cuatro hijas, con un "sentimiento de equidad y ahorro":
_Mamá, yo quiero un perro caliente.
_No. Si te compro uno a ti, voy a tener que comprarle a todas. >, en casa hay comida -decía siempre mamá y no teníamos derecho a pataleos ni a llanto. Este razonamiento anterior, nuestros padres lo tenían para todo: para comprar un helado, unos zapatos nuevos o llevarnos al cine:
_Si te llevo al cine a ti, Nancy, debo llevar a tus hermanas y tus hermanas no quieren ir al cine -argumentaban y nadie iba a ninguna parte.
Cuando llegaba diciembre, cada una de nosotras hacía una carta para el Niño Jesús. Aunque siempre hacíamos una lista con todas las cosas que queríamos, normalmente, el Niño Jesús nos traía una sola cosa, un solo juguete:
_Recuerden que ustedes no son las únicas niñas y el Niño Jesús tiene que darle regalos a todos los niños del mundo -nos explicaban nuestros padres y aunque no nos gustaba ese razonamiento, lo aceptábamos porque éramos niñas buenas y obedientes.
Pero aquel año estaban de moda las muñecas grandes que hablaban. Venían con unos discos pequeños que se insertaban en la parte de atrás y la muñeca cantaba y saludaba. La televisión las promocionaba y nosotras saltábamos de alegría al ver una muñeca, que era casi de nuestro tamaño cantando Los pollitos, El barquito chiquito y diciendo: Hola, cómo estás.
_Yo quiero una muñeca grande que habla -escribí yo en mi carta, con una letra perfecta y dibujé corazones, intentando que el Niño Jesús le gustara más mi carta que las otras.
_Yo también quiero una muñeca grande -dijo cada una de mis hermanas y escribieron eso en la carta. Como nuestros padres nos habían dicho que esas muñecas eran costosas y que el Niño Jesús era un niño pobre, solo pedimos una única y sola cosa, nada más. Las cuatro queríamos una muñeca grande que hablaba.
El 24 de diciembre nos fuimos a dormir temprano, ilusionadas por lo que sería nuestro regalo. Seguramente esa noche soñamos con peinar nuestra muñeca, caminar con ella y escucharla cantar como aparecía en el comercial de televisión.
Al día siguiente, cuando despertamos, buscamos debajo de la cama y no encontramos nada. Recuerdo que cada una de nosotras buscaba por un rincón y nada. Estábamos a punto del llanto, cuando mi mamá comenzó a ayudarnos a buscar y mágicamente abrió el closet y allí estaba: una muñeca grande. No cuatro, no tres ni dos. Solo una.
Nosotras comenzamos a saltar de lo contenta que estábamos. De repente, mi hermana mayor, hizo la famosa pregunta:
_¿Y de quién es la muñeca? -nuestros ojos expectantes vieron a papá y a mamá.
_La muñeca es de todas. El niño Jesús nos dijo que si traía cuatro muñecas para acá, otras niñas se iban a quedar sin juguetes. Nosotros le dijimos que dejara solo una porque ustedes son muy unidas y comparten. Y nosotras, que éramos unas niñas, asentimos con una sonrisa en los labios y pegamos un grito de felicidad, no solo porque teníamos la suerte de tener una muñeca grande en casa, sino porque gracias a nosotras, otras niñas también tendrían sus muñecas.
You parents did well to provide you girls with a toy that made you joyful during the holiday period. And you four must have been overjoyed to have it. I guess you had the time of your lives playing with it and be thankful to your parents who provided. I enjoyed reading your story. Thanks for writing.
Yes, I always appreciate everything my parents gave me and the way they raised me. Thank you for your comment. Regards
Thank you for your appreciation and support, friends. Greetings
This is hilarious. Your parents really coordinated you girls well and coarse you into believing whatever they say using baby Jesus as a perfect excuse.
In our culture, children believe in baby Jesus and Santa. hahahahaha. Greetings
This is a nice story. You and your sisters were well trained. Most children would want their own separate dull idea of having just one for them all.
Yes, I think I am very grateful for the education we had. Thank you for your comment
Your parents really loved everyone equally. In families there are always favorite children who are given priority in certain things. Your parents did a great job giving everyone equal opportunities without preferences.
Thanks for sharing your experience with us.
Happy Holidays.
That's right, my friend. I think that's what they wanted to instill in us: there was no preference and that we should “tuck ourselves in as far as the blanket would reach”. Greetings and I hope you had a nice Christmas
Your story is hilarious and also very interesting. I love that you and your sisters agreed to share everything, it must have built such a great bond amongst you. Well done!