Big Sis at Christmas

Down here in the Deep South we do things a little differently than I had up North. On Christmas morning, the kids are awed by all the gifts from both Santa and Family, but all the Santa gifts are left unwrapped. It is as if Santa pulled them directly from his sack upon arriving from the chimney flue, and just couldn't find where we kept the tape or scissors.
Not that I mind, it's less for "Santa's Helpers" to wrap during the weeks leading up to the big day. If I can avoid the nights of measuring, cutting, and taping, well that's okay by me. It just feels funny, strategically placing and arranging all the Santa-gifts late on Christmas Eve. Organizing them in a particular way to highlight certain things and to make sure that everything from Santa can be seen all at once.
What makes this such an event is that Santa always brings one "big gift". It might be a lot to live up to in Christmases to come, but these have been good years. This year's big gift for our daughter was a Disney Princess Castle doll house. This thing is as tall as bubba and three times as wide. It has a piano which plays music, working lights, and an oven which makes a strange gurgling noise that only a Disney Princess could explain. It's really extravagant. Along with that our little princess found a Snow White and a Belle doll in each of the bedrooms in the upstairs of the doll house. These are really nice, Barbie-like dolls which she really seems to like.
She calls it Cinderella's Castle. That only makes sense since Cinderella is her favorite of all the Disney Princesses. There are quite a few to choose from: Belle, Ariel, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Jasmine, and even Mulan. I might have even missed one. But Cinderella is her favorite. She has been reading the story for years and watching the movie for months. She knows all the character names and probably could tell you the entire story if you left her alone with the book.
Shortly after Christmas, during the week before New Year's Day, I over heard someone ask Big Sis what she got from Santa. She thought about it for a minute, like she does most things, and answers, "a Cinderella Castle!". She pauses for a second and then adds, "but no Cinderella!"
Hmmph.
No Cinderella.
Here, she gets all this neato cool stuff and she is focused on what she didn't get. Does it really start this early? I couldn't believe it! Hello?? Snow White?? Belle?? Are they second class doll citizens??
I decided it wasn't worth getting too worked up over and it wasn't until later when i mentioned the incident to my Wonderful Wife. "She has a Cinderella already," she tells me. "In fact, she has a Cinderella, a Prince Charming and an entire horse and carriage to go with it." You're kidding. She is so focused on what she got that day, she has totally forgotten what she already had!
We should have just put the same Cinderella inside the castle on Christmas Eve. Maybe next year we do it a little different. Maybe next year we just give her something she already has. I'm not sure if she will notice.
The good news is that she loves it. We set it up in her bedroom; it's previously been a "sleep only" room where we kept her clothes, her bed and her books. There were a very few things in there that she could play with, mostly because we wanted to emphasize that this room is for sleeping. The castle is now the only real toy in there. Sometimes we find her in there humming and talking to herself playing with the dolls and arranging them in the house. She is so wonderful to have around. Looks like this present worked out after all.