It is called Elita's List Or Grammie's List, Not Angie's List

When I see the younger grandchildren, I bring them a gift everytime. However, due to me not knowing what is current with the youngsters, I let their Mom, my daughter-in-law purchase them for me and I pay her. She of course is aware what is new and that they would love and so she is my personal shopper. She keeps them at her house and they know she purchases them for me and Grandpa and when she comes here or I go there, they know she will bring them out from the hidden room where the future gifts are residing. They know that Grammie andGranpa are the givers.

When the older two grandsons were this age, we would often take them to Toys R Us and they could pick out what they wanted for about twenty dollars each. One day the younger one picked out something for forty dollars. I told him I would buy it for him for Chanukah or his up and coming birthday and it was too expensive for then.  He said it is not forty dollars, the sign says thirty-nine, ninety-nine.

Sometimes when she is out with them, they state they want this or that and she buys them plenty, but she tells them “we will put this one on Grammie’s list.” When I heard that, I immediately thought of the business called Angie’s list. There is a constant commercial touting Angie’s list on TV and the man states how he loves dealing with the list, then he says I love you Angie and sheepishly says, sorry hon meaning he does not want his wife to think he really loves Angie.

So I thought I should start a service called Elita’s List and I could help other grandparents to find out from me who will find out from my daughter-in-law, what is suitable for their grandchildren or nieces or nephews.

Wow, what an idea, money will be pouring into my bank account when it becomes popular to consult with Elita, the CEO of Elita’s list and perhaps I will even franchise the name to others to use for their own needs in shopping for kids.

When I was a kid and times were in the war in the 1940’s, we were happy and delighted to get one gift for December holiday and one for our birthday. One year when my brother was thirteen, he got a grownup bicycle and one December he got a sled. In those days owning your own sled was quite the thing. I got a large baby doll from my well to do Uncle Louie and I was allowed to play with it during holiday time, my birthday in June and if I was sick. It was very fragile and it had a china face. It was called a Shirley Temple doll and it was about  36-40 inches tall and during the other times she laid in her box all covered up and alone. In fact, she was so taken care of, when my first niece was born and she was about two and I was twenty-two, I gave it to her for her use. So you can see that a doll kept for 22 years and in good shape was taken care of lovingly, not played with a lot and probably by then very valuable.

A few years ago, I saw that the exact same doll from 1940 got sold for 30 thousand dollars. Oh well, there goes my bankroll not increased.

I loved my Shirley doll so much and I handled her sparingly and even when Mom said I was old enough to play with her whenever I wanted, I smoothed her pink chiffon dress out and held and loved her as a child loves a doll. I guess I could have gotten at least now 50 thousand.

When little Ava saw a white stuffed animal with a really long and skinny tale, she asked mom and mom said we will put it on Grammie’s list. When they were here yesterday, Ethan got two action figures and Ava got a CD disc she loved and this pretty white animal from Nordstrom’s wrapped the way Nordstrom’s wraps everything all in a silver box with a nice silver bow atop it. I am calling Nordstrom’s on Monday and buy one like Ava’s to sit on my bed when I put the bedspread on every morning.

 It was like the animal was lying in the box as Shirley did for most of her life with me and he was awaiting the love he is receiving from Ava, one of her coming birthday gifts from Grammie and Grandpa. I mainly wanted books in those days other than a doll or two. I loved my books and I have several of them still now over seventy years later. Of course they yellowed over the years and the paper got stiff and now they reside and live on my family room bookshelves down in the basement. I dust them off during dusting days and now and then I open their yellowed pages and remember the joy I received. In the front opening cover, I wrote in my childish handwriting that this book belongs to Elita Sohmer and the date 1942 or thereabouts.

There was no Grammie’s list or the professional name of Elita’s List. I better stop giving Angie this idea, or she will start a list of books for sale to qualified buyers.

So to dear old Shirley who is about my age now wherever she may be, in some other kid’s arms after my niece got too old for her or maybe in a dumping ground, always remember dear doll Shirley I did love you so and I nurtured you and every few years, I gave you a new dress, brushed your hair and slipped on new slippers for your feet. I hope you realized that at first Mom only let me love you visually on those specific days and when I got old enough to treasure you as my treasure, I did give you the best maternal care I knew how to and I hope you really understood you were adored.

Now Ava adores her stuffed white animal with an extremely long tail held up by little beads in it and Ethan loves his action figures as most little boys do. When their father wanted a doll of sorts for boys called G.I. Joe dressed in army fatigues, we at first resisted giving a boy a doll until all the boys in the neighborhood had them and they played with them and their toy soldiers and had lots of fun.

I know a lady whose daughter is expecting a boy soon and she already bought him several action figures though he will be too young for them for a while, she bought him a Raggedy Andy boy’s doll to lay in his crib.

I better had start advertising on the Internet, my new business called Elita’s List and I sure do hope Angie is not going to wage an advertising war against me, because she did not think of it first.

As the guy in the TV commercial comments now I love you Angie, I will have to offer him more money so he starts soon saying “I love you Elita.” Jerry will not be jealous, you can be sure; he will be counting the money I will be making with lots of glee.