Do you have one of those stories in your family where it gets told over and over and you laugh every single time?
Everyone loves to laugh about the time I woke up at 3am, got ready for school and then tried to make everyone else do the same, insisting we were all going to be late. Or the time I was complaining about a knife not working until my mom pointed out I was using the wrong side. What? The ones with the pointy end are confusing sometimes.
Our family experienced one of those times this past Christmas.
Two weeks before Christmas, Emma asked me if she could have some money to go buy me, Scott and Lexi some Christmas presents just from her–just something small, maybe $5-10 a piece. I said yes and then she got the idea to ask my sister to take her that weekend when we were going to be in Pennsylvania the weekend before Christmas to visit with family. My sister, of course, was thrilled to take her shopping.
Saturday morning came along and we decided that we would all go to town. The kids would go with my sister and grandmother to a store and pick out gifts while Scott and I did a little shopping of our own in another store.
On the way, Lexi decided that she wanted to buy a gift for our hosts. She said, “It’s the least we could do.” I’ve written about the couple we stay with before and she was right, we needed to do something a little extra in thanks.
So we dropped the kids off at a bargain store and I wished them all well thinking it could be quite the shopping trip. It wasn’t 20 minutes or so though and we got the call to come pick them back up. They were done. And with money to spare. Wow, they must have gotten some good deals, I thought.
After a not-so-quick stop at CVS to pick up some picture prints needed for gifts, we all decided to eat at the mall. The kids got Chick-fil-a and I got a smoothie from Orange Julius.
So we’re all eating and my sister says, “Just to warn you, they picked out a candle for Mike and Deanna. It’s kind of small because the scent they really wanted was out in the larger sizes.”
And in the sarcastic way sisters are, I said, “So, what, we basically bought them a tea light for Christmas? Could you not, you know, have managed that a little better?”
We start laughing because I know we’re both starting to picture the scene when we express our unending gratitude with a berry scented tea light.
Then Lexi sets her chicken nugget down, throws her arms up wide, her head back and earnestly says, “It’s the LEAST we could do!”
And then Heather and I look at each other and realize the irony of it. Most people say “It’s the least I could do” when they do something that’s not so small but want to be humble about it. But no, this truly was the very least we could do.
We’re belly laughing, but in the silent way where your whole body is shaking, you’re smiling and yet not making a sound because Lexi doesn’t get what she just said. I’m almost certain smell is one of her love languages. In her little heart, she’d picked out the perfect scented candle and she can’t wait for them to smell it. Ah, it was such a great moment.
Our family has now started saying, “It’s the LEAST I could do,” in reply to any thanks and always with a belly laugh.
And for those wondering, yes, we did buy them something else. But I’m pretty sure it’s the candle they’ll remember.
