That time my brain failed me…

“Do you know, I can’t remember what you got me for my birthday”.

This was the statement which greeted me, one October evening. To rephrase it, my sister was telling me, the birthday gift I so thoughtfully put together for her, wrapped with love and money too, was all useless because she couldn’t even remember what was in the gift bag.

I mean, I know, I am no Ellen Degeneres or Oprah Winfrey, with the wealth to afford extravagant gifts. But I assumed, even if all I had given her was a cardboard paper with the wordings “Happy birthday Sis” written on it, she would appreciate and cherish it too.

So, maybe the birthday gift I gave her the year before wasn’t the greatest. I got her a Chimamanda Adichie book and it turns out, she’s already read the book. The thing is, I could have easily checked her goodsread list to see the books she’s read and the ones she wants to read, (she’s very active there), but it completely skipped my mind.

And okay, so maybe I had included a birthday card from our family members, and despite using their money to buy it, I forgot to give them the card to sign so I had to pretty much forge everyone’s signature. How could I have known that I was unconvincing when it comes to “forging signatures”, I mean, you never know unless you try right. I pretty much just imagined how every family member would sign and I did it. It did not appear real.

The top row signatures: the one with Akg is mine while the others are my woeful efforts at forging

You get the picture, her previous gift wasn’t the greatest. But, this year’s gift though, I couldn’t believe she forgot the things I had gotten her. I was mad and ready to go off. That was just the height of ingratitude. I was armed with words, ready to diffuse all of the irritability building up inside of me for the past one week.
Ohhh she is never going to hear the end of it.

I had just begun with my “I can’t believe you forgot what I got you”, when she paused me in my track and asked
“What did you get me for my birthday? I honestly want to know”.
I paused. The room was silent, and that was when it occurred to me,
Even I couldn’t remember the birthday gift I gave her for her birthday

I knew it was a red gift bag, but for the life of me, I could not remember even one thing which was in it. People say words fail them, for me, it was my brain which failed me, woefully so too. I couldn’t even play the card of “well, i’m not going to tell you”, because the look on my face said it all. My poker face is only as good as my signature forging.

What began as an “oh you are never going to live down forgetting what I got you“, ended up turning into a brainstorming session, which my sister ended up taking the lead, because at least, she remembered there were 2 dresses.
Till this date, I still can’t remember how the dress looks like or what else the gift bag contains.

That being said, the sister in question just recently started a card making business with her best friend, and the brand is called (@soulunraveled_wordsandcraft)  on instagram. A card goes for only 1500 naira. It’s a 4 by 6 inch card using an A5paper, with a glittered cover and a soul unraveled poem within the card, depending on the occasion. And if you want something personalized, that can be done as well.

Also, guess what? You get a 10% discount for every card if you order with the code (Akg96). This offer lasts until the end of December. Only 10% you say? Well, it is a new brand and I am a new blog, so there you have it. Don’t forget to head over to their insta page.

Which brings me to the question: What was the worst gift you’ve ever received? Do share in the comments section below. And hope you have a fantastic weekend.

Lots of love, laughter and coffee