Recently my friend and her husband planned a trip to Disney World for themselves and their two children, ages 4 and 5. She devised a clever way to tell them about the trip, gathering all of their Disney character toys together and carefully placing them on the floor. She then turned on the video camera and called the kids over to have them guess where they would be going. After a couple of incorrect guesses, she told them. There was a moment of silence, then the 5 year old said "I thought the surprise would be even better."
When she told me about this, I completely empathized with her. I told her that I gave up "surprising" my kids a while ago, after too many disappointments. But the disappointment that was the catalyst for my surprise-embargo was not theirs, it was mine. Too many times I told my girls that I had a surprise for them when I got home, only to have the same sort of disappointment come my way that my friend experienced. Unfortunately, no matter how fabulous, elaborate and major your surprise may be (it was DISNEY WORLD for Chrissake!), the kids will always think it should have been something more fabulous, more elaborate and more major.
You would think I would have learned this lesson from my own experience. Many, many years ago, I came home from school to my mother telling me that she had a surprise for me upstairs on my bed. I bounded up the stairs, no doubt wondering if there was a new Adam Ant LP record or pink bandana awaiting me. I threw open the door and there, on my bed, in a box, was a training bra. As disappointed as I was, I'm sure it was even worse for my mom.
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