The Washing Machine That Turned Into an Amiga 600

It was coming up to Christmas 1994, and my mum was really hoping for a new washing machine. Had I been a bit older I might have questioned it, but that's what she said she wanted, and I believed her.

All I Want for Christmas Is a Hotpoint

A few days after she started sighing about needing one, my dad told me the big secret: he was buying her a new washing machine for Christmas! It could be a gift from both of us. But I must on no account tell her.

The box with the washing machine in was too big to hide, of course, so in the days leading up to Christmas it sat proudly under the tree, beautifully wrapped, and labelled 'To Mummy'. Every now and then she would look at it and wonder aloud whether it could be the washing machine she so desperately wanted. And I would nearly burst in the effort not to tell.

The big day rolled around. For once I was almost as excited for my mum to unwrap her present as I was to open mine. So excited, in fact, that my parents said, 'Why don't YOU unwrap it?'

I tore off the paper. Underneath, the box was labelled, 'To Chrissy'. At this point I realised that my parents were geniuses and had pulled off the greatest troll of the 90s.

We'd never had much money. I'd never had a computer or game system of any kind. And in this box was an Amiga 600, with games included, and a monitor that would double as a TV for my bedroom. Christmas 1994 was the year a hundred Christmases all came at once.

Still. So. Cool.

What Christmas gift will you remember forever? And did your parents ever troll you this hard? Tell me all about it here or on Twitter!