Toyland! The name says it all - and a visit to Toyland was another small glimmer of hope that Christmas would indeed arrive after all. Even the name still has magical powers to me. The memory of toys - real toys (not computer games and DVDs) is as big a part of Christmas as Santa Claus himself. The "real" Toyland of course existed mostly in the imagination - and Toys R Us or the toy department at Wal-Mart do not count, they are just stores. Toyland only existed at Christmas and was infinitely more magical than that. I don't even remember any of the toys there although I am certain there were trains and dolls and purple stuffed elephants. Just like the WishBook was about the wishing and not the wanting - Toyland was not about the toys but about being there. Some might say that Toyland did not actually exist - that it was not real. Well I am here to tell you that it was as real as Christmas itself. And for those of you who don't believe in things of the heart, those of you who seek proof - I have proof. It was located upstairs at Stedman's Department Store in Woodstock, New Brunswick. It was real, I was there, I saw the sign. But alas - as they say in the song Toyland - "Once you leave it's borders, you can ne'er go back again". We all have to leave Toyland but I am not so sure that you can't go back... if only for a glimpse.
Now on with my story... and the happy ending. You didn't think I would write a nasty Christmas story did you? The truth is that Mom actually made our Christmas even better by subjecting us to a little reality. She didn't pull any punches and made it quite clear that there was slim hope that they could scrape up enough money for all the gifts we might desire. But did that stop us from wishing? No way - we had the Wish Book! And we had Toyland....
Of course as Christmas drew closer Mom's predictions became less and less severe. "Maybe" started to replace "No" in her vocabulary more and more and we started to believe that Christmas just might actually come again, just like it did last year! Maybe we would get a tree again after all - a small one just in case a few presents arrived from relatives, we would have a place to put them.
Well - as you have probably guessed by now, Christmas always did arrive despite Mom's yearly predictions to the contrary. And I believe it was all the better for it. After all - where is the fun in a sure thing? Along with all the toys from the Wish Book and Toyland, our Christmas came with a little risk and it made the day all the sweeter when it finally arrived. Of course as time went by and we all grew up there was less for Mom to fear as Christmas approached. Part time jobs, babysitting money and paper routes all helped to spread more Christmas around the house. And wouldn't you know it - even when we were all adults Mom would still buy us small presents - little wind up toys were her particular favorite. And just for a moment on Christmas morning when we opened those small gifts - there it was again, that small glimmer of hope - Toyland.
Merry Christmas to all - and may you continue to see those small glimmers of hope all year long.
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