I know I’m probably in the minority here, but I absolutely love wrapping Christmas presents. It’s actually one of my favorite parts of the holiday. I love looking at each present before I wrap it, thinking about what the recipient of the gift means to me, and smiling as I anticipate the look on his or her face upon opening it.
This love of wrapping goes back to my childhood, when I would help my Mom wrap Christmas gifts. She always, always gift wrapped right on her bed, spreading out the wrapping paper, the scissors, the tape, the ribbons and bows, the gift tags – and, of course, the presents – all across her bedspread.
I would help my Mom as much as I could… handing her the scissors, writing names on gift tags, keeping as many pieces of tape on my little hands as I could until she called for one. Mom would tell me the stories behind the gifts… how she had remembered my Dad mentioning how much he loved something, and so she couldn’t wait to see his face when he opened the gift and saw she had found it. Or the traditions behind gifts for other relatives, and how those traditions began.
I remember marveling at how meticulously she creased the gift wrap when she folded the ends into a perfect “V”… and trying to memorize exactly how her hands worked their way around the gifts so that the finished product looked so neat, so even and so perfect. Even now, as an adult, after years and years of trying to get my gift wrapping abilities to match those of my Mom, I am still in awe of just how quickly and perfectly she can wrap any gift.
With each gift purchase during the Christmas season, I think about how I will wrap it. There are some gifts that come in their own boxes, so wrapping is pretty easy to determine. But then there are the gifts that you can play around with a little… try to keep the recipient guessing with the type of gift packaging you decide to use.
I can’t wait to start wrapping gifts this year. I will do it on my family room floor, with the wrapping paper, the scissors, the tape, the ribbons and bows, the gift tags – and, of course, the presents – all spread out around me.
And I am so looking forward to Christmas Eve, which is when my entire family gets together at Mom and Dad’s house for a big dinner and gift opening celebration. That’s when I get to enjoy one of my other favorite parts of the holiday – seeing my family (innocently and unknowingly) show complete disregard for my meticulously-performed gift wrapping effort and tear into their carefully and lovingly chosen gifts.
For me, it really is more fun to give than it is to receive. That’s another valuable lesson I learned from Mom.
Ya know, I really love to wrap too. So much so infact that I use to sleep overnight at my grandmother’s house when I was young and wrap ALL of her gifts! 🙂
I love to give gifts, but I hate to wrap. I don’t make pretty packages, and I always get frustrated. My mom’s love of wrapping did not get passed down it seems!
As much as I like wrapping, my favorite thing is coming up with creative and funny gift tags. That’s something my parents always did and it was fun to see what sort of crazy names or nicknames they would come up with. I’m happy this is a tradition I’ve carried on with my own family 🙂
I LOVE to wrap too! In fact just today on FB my sister wrote that she was channeling me and hoping I would send some of my love of gift-wrapping her way as she tackled that chore. I too have fond memories of watching my mom wrap and being in awe of how perfectly she did it. This year I’m completely done with everyone in my extended family and my husband, which makes me kind of sad that it’s done! I have to wrap all my kid’s gifts though, so I have that to look forward to. I just need my husband to take them out of the house for a few hours so I can get it done 🙂
Awww, love your Mom! She’s too cute! BTW, want to come and wrap my Christmas gifts? 😉
I like to wrap too. I LOVE shopping for wrapping paper every year and picking out my “signature” wrap for the season.
YOu guys are so cute!!!! I love shopping but hate wrapping. Probably because I have no idea what I am doing,lol
I love wrapping, too! Your post made me remember how much I loved staying up late with my grandfather wrapping presents =)
I feel the exact same way!! I’m actually heading to Michael’s on my lunch break today to pick up my paper and ribbon. I swear I’ll be in there for 1/2 an hour deciding on what my color scheme will be this year!
I am horrible at wrapping. Can you wrap MY gifts? 😉 haha!
I’m the same way! Half the fun of giving the gift is making it pretty on the outside too!!
I love giving too!! So much better than receiving!! My 8-year old daughter told me the other day she likes giving better too! Love that I have passed that on to her.
I love it too! I actually enjoy it more than buying the gifts lol….I’m a pretty good wrapper