On Christmas morning, I woke up to the smell of gingerbread cookies and the sound of cheerful laughter. Bursting with excitement, 8-year-old me dashed downstairs into the living room with my 5-year-old little brother.

Had my dreams come true? Did my parents finally get me the gift of my dreams — the new DS Lite with the hottest games Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver?

I daydreamed that getting the DS Lite would mean the end of those endless family get-togethers where I could only watch drearily as all my friends absorbed themselves into the virtual world of Pokemon. They would trade each other Pokemon in-game using the DS-link function and embark together on the journey to “Catch 'em all.”

But when I saw the size the package, my dreams were shattered. It was way too big to be a DS. My vision blurred with tears as I tore open the gift wrapping. It was a remote-control spy car with a camera and a mic.  

Under normal circumstances, I would have been ecstatic, but because of how long I had wanted a DS, I broke into the tears I had been choking back. My younger brother, following my lead, did the same. As both kids cried on the living room floor, my dad awkwardly stood there with his droopy Santa hat and my mom, unaware of the emotional magnitude of the situation, continued rapidly snapping photos.

Eventually, my brother and I calmed down after realizing that crying would not alleviate the situation, and in trying to make the best out of Christmas, our parents took us out to lunch and convinced the other kids at the family get-together to include us as well.

I ended up getting the game a couple months later, and looking back, I realize I was pretty childish for being so uncommunicative and expecting my parents to read my mind.