Erin Norris jumped out of bed and ran down the stairs, her bright blonde hair bobbing up and down behind her. As she rounded the last step, a smile as bright as the sun spread across her face. Under the Christmas tree sat an enormous present with her and her three sister’s names.
The Norris sisters ripped open the gift as quick as their hands could carry them, but to their disappointment, they were met with a stack of red bricks with an old glove resting on top.
Their father had played a Christmas prank on them, and Erin, who was only 5 at the time, started sobbing. But, as soon as her parents brought out her real gift, a Barbie scooter, her smile returned, and her tears disappeared.
Three years later, Erin was met with a similar situation but with a better outcome.
Norris, now 8, once again rounded the last step and jumped off in excitement, as she saw a large present with her name on it under the Christmas tree.
When she tore the wrapping paper off, she was face-to-face with the American Girl Doll Kit Kittredge.
An American Girl doll looks like a typical doll, but each comes with a story to her background, making them more relatable to children. Kit Kittredge is a young girl who helps her family through the Great Depression with her intelligence and thriftiness. Through this journey, she learns that money is not as important as her family and friends.
“I had already seen the movie about Kit, and I really liked her story. I wanted her doll, so I could play with her,” Norris, now a sophomore, said. “I was really excited when I got the gift because I originally thought I wouldn’t get it since it was pretty expensive.”
For the next few years following that successful Christmas, Norris’s maternal grandmother, who gave her the doll, would bring Norris extra clothes for the doll on her birthday or on Christmas as a present.
“There was this one set of matching pajamas that [Kit] and I had,” Norris said. “We would both wear the pajamas at night.”
Although Norris loved all the accessories she was gifted each year for her doll, her favorite one had originally come with the gift itself.
“I was really excited because [Kit] had a typewriter, and I thought it would actually type stuff when I was little,” Norris said. “But it turns out it didn’t, so I was pretty sad, but I still thought [the typewriter] was really cool.”
As Norris grew older, her days of matching and playing with Kit started to fade away. However, the doll still remains in a corner of her room.
During Christmas, Norris and her sister place their dolls on an American Girl sled next to their Christmas tree.
Although Norris no longer plays with her doll anymore, her 7-and 8-year-old cousins enjoy playing with Kit Kittredge when they visit Norris and her family.
The doll remains her favorite Christmas gift even to this day, not only because she had wanted it for a long time but because it also carries sentimental value.
Norris and her grandmother had always been very close. Norris family would often drive to Los Angeles to visit her grandmother, who couldn’t come to Saratoga due to health problems.
According to Norris, her grandmother “spoiled” her because she was the youngest of her siblings, and instead of receiving one doll like her two elder sisters, she received two more dolls in the years following Kit.
“[The doll means a lot to me] because my grandma passed away this year, and so now whenever I see it, it reminds me of her,” Norris said.
