Wrapping Lesson
Sorry if I seem obsessed with present wrapping, but it seems a critical component of a merry Christmas. And I mean, merry, in that I’m happy getting stuff done. Yesterday I went and bought ribbons, bows, and gift wrap tissue. Way more than I needed, but it was inexpensive. Why did I do that? Flexibility. A wife lesson. You want options when you wrap presents. I have them once again. Besides, I also have to wrap the occasional birthday present, and you need tissue and bows.
As I wrapped yesterday something else came to mind. My late wife wrapped presents as she bought them. The benefit of this approach is two-fold. One, you don’t have an ever increasing wrapping project hanging over your head. Two, it allows you to take your time with each present to ensure a high quality wrap. You have to think ahead of course to ensure each child has their own wrapping paper, but that’s easy to do. The rest is just attention to detail, and I can do that when I want.
Today I’m going to retrofit some of the presents I wrapped the other day with bows, because I want to brighten them up. I’m hauling them to Houston on Thursday for the Friday family Christmas. Then it’s back home for Christmas day with my son and some local friends, and that starts the Twelve Days of Christmas leading to the feast of the Epiphany, and that’s my liturgical lesson for the day. I hope everyone is having a merry Christmas and that everything is all wrapped up and you’re ready for the big day.
John W. Wilson is the author of The Long Goodbye: A Caregiver's Tale