Our unknown influence

One day when Zach was about three or four years old, he began asking me questions about what my life was like when I was little.  He asked me what kind of toys I had had.  I told him about my Easy Bake Oven and my Chatty Cathy. 

I told him about the old dolls we played with, with the chopped off hair and ink stained faces, a threadbare stuffed giraffe, plasticine cookies with a plastic tea set.

Months went by, and I never gave the conversation a second thought.  The following Christmas approached and we asked Zach what he wanted for Christmas.  "A stuffed giraffe," was the response.  I thought it was a bit of an odd request, but determined to find him a stuffed giraffe.  After all, it was the only thing he asked for.

Now this was in the days before Amazon or Ebay, and we had to actually go out hunting for the requested toy.  George and I both searched diligently but were unable to come up with a stuffed giraffe anywhere.  Of course, it's always the way, you might see a particular toy every year, but when it's the one your child wants, it's nowhere to be found.  We decided to try a new tack.  "Wouldn't you like some Lego, or a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle?  Maybe a Furby or a set of Power Rangers?"  No.  None of these things.  The only thing he wanted was a stuffed giraffe.  We never did find a stuffed giraffe that year, and Zach had to settle for other toys, but when the following Christmas rolled around we asked again, "what do you want for Christmas?" 

"A stuffed giraffe". 

Still?  This time George played the hero, and found a stuffed giraffe in a specialty store.  It was nothing special, maybe 10" tall, it was stuffed and it was a giraffe. 

We wrapped it up, put it under the tree.  Christmas morning Zach was delighted to find the stuffed giraffe he had longed for, for over a year. 

After the papers were gathered up, the ribbons and bows put away and Zach was busy with other pursuits, I picked up the giraffe and stroked its fur, wondering about his tenacity on wanting it.  "It's funny," I thought, "this reminds me of the stuffed giraffe I had as a child."  Suddenly it hit me.  The conversation from nearly two years previous came back to me in a rush.  He wanted a stuffed giraffe because I had had a stuffed giraffe.  The giraffe had never been special to me, it was just another toy in the box, and I happened to mention it.  It became special because I then realized how much more of an influence I was on him than I had ever dreamed.

Love for him filled my heart.  My little boy wanted to be like me!  I guess we just never know how our words or actions will affect someone, especially our children.