Christmas Coordination
Some people turn gift wrapping into an art form. Each gift is carefully boxed and wrapped with crisply folded paper. The package is then embellished with ribbons, bows, tags, or other forms of decoration. These packages then are stacked around the tree in picturesque piles. I admire people who put so much care and thought into the presentation of presents, but I am not one of them. I do try to wrap the paper around nicely, but I can’t be bothered to find boxes for everything. As a result the packages are often oddly shaped. I don’t use tags either. I write directly on the paper with a sharpie marker. My children accept this as normal present wrapping protocol. In fact, they take it one step further and use the sharpie to draw all over the wrapping paper. This year Gleek spent a long time carefully outlining christmas trees in black. Patches drew maps on the presents he wrapped. One year Link carefully drew a picture on the outside of the package of the gift that was inside the package. These scrawled-upon, lumpy packages are not beautiful, but they make me smile.
Most of our gifts are wrapped at this point. The tree is surrounded. I frequently look at the and engage in my regular December occupation of reviewing in my mind who is giving what to whom. It is my job to make sure that all of these little people have plans for what to give each other. It is my job to accumulate those things and then help them wrap. It is also my job to balance the distribution of presents so that there are no cries of “Not Fair!” on Christmas morning. Because of this, I know what is in each package under the tree. I even know what is in most of the packages to me. On Christmas morning comes I’ll be delighted by the gifts. Surprises for the grown-ups have to be rare on a tight budget, because Howard and I discuss what would be the best use of Christmas funds.
Last year we traveled to my parent’s house for Christmas. That was really fun and we all enjoyed it. This year we are staying home and I am glad for the less frantic pace. I’m also glad not to have to haul piles of presents 800 miles in the car only to haul them all back again a week later. This will be a smaller and more peaceful Christmas than last year. But we’re not to the holiday yet. We have one more week before the holidays can begin in earnest. Four more days of school. I’m not sure who is counting them more avidly, me or the kids.