Vacation Present

We always buy Brielle a vacation present.  Doesn't everyone?  I think all parents do this for their kids.  I usually want to spend too much money or buy items that break instantly.  This vacation we were going to do it right.  We were going to bring her back a little piece of St. Lucia.  We Grant Uncle Scott spent 30 minutes haggling over a giant conch shell for Brielle.  The guy settled for $15 and 2 beers.  Not bad.  It was perfect!

I had this vision in my head.....

On Monday, Brielle's class will start studying oceans of the world at school.  This was my vision of her during share time.

Then we carefully packed our giant vacation present in t-shirts and stuffed it in Grant's carry-on.  We were ready to get home and see our baby girl.  We were going to be the best parents ever.  Little did we know there would be a mean lady in St. Lucia's airport security.  She unraveled our t-shirt bundle, pointed to a sign on the wall, and haphazardly tossed it in a basket with plastic water bottles and toothpaste.  REALLY?  Really? 

So Brielle's vacation present was a very small basket of very small shells that I bought at the airport gift shop.  On the upside, I also bought her plantain chips to eat (she loved them) and a bag to share with her class next week. 

Someday she will read this post and know what we really picked out for her vacation present.  Until that day, the small shells will do.  She holds the tiny shells to her ear, so she can listen to the ocean.  The simple things matter most.  I must have forgotten that over vacation.