Published by JPLand on 23 Dec 2008 at 10:06 am
Preparations
Our poor little Christmas tree. We put it out the day after Thanksgiving and there it sits…all alone. No presents under it’s pre-lit branches. Just a tree skirt and an aluminum stand break the monotony of the hardwood floor. Even Charlie Brown would be disappointed.
Putting wrapped gifts out is a difficult decision to make with young kids. Butterfly is old enough to understand the concept of waiting. Sure, she’ll ask us to open the gifts approximately 643 times each hour, but she knows her limits. Ladybug, on the other hand, does not see these items as gifts that will bring her joy when opened. She sees wrapping paper that will bring her joy immediately if she can just tear it into small bits and scatter it across the floor. Because of this, we’ve kept all of the gifts hidden in a top-secret location. But it just doesn’t seem right to have a bare floor. We need to have some things wrapped and under the tree.
Last night we decided it was time. We put in a romantic, Christmas movie (The Patriot) and pulled out all the gifts. Immediately, we realized that we had purchased enough for Christmas, Easter, birthdays, long weekends, random Canadian holidays, and even most Mondays. We sorted items into piles. I handled the logistics, organization, and labeling. Kelley deemed which items could wait and which needed to go out this holiday. When we finished sorting and determining that the piles were about as even as we could get them, we started wrapping. (Yes, I have OCD tendencies. Yes, I took me much longer to wrap mine than Kelley did. Yes, mine were very pretty.)
Slightly after midnight, the movie was finished, the scraps were cleaned, and the parents were exhausted. As I turned off the light, I glanced over at the tree, now with some presents neatly wrapped and fanned under its branches. A slight chill cut through the house. Now it felt right.
I am thankful for my girls and their excitement. I am thankful for my wife as she helps me to show and teach our girls that the world is a difficult place, but love conquesrs all things. And, in this moment of reflection, I am thankful that I am at work today so that I don’t have to deal with the girls trying to get at those gifts. Good luck, Kelley!
DruU on 23 Dec 2008 at 1:41 pm #
Hey, I watched The Patriot last night also… Were you in my house? I didn’t see any presents under the tree this morning.
JPLand on 23 Dec 2008 at 1:45 pm #
We were there. I feel the need to mention that your sound system is a little outdated. And popcorn would have been nice.
It’s a great movie. It is really tough to watch when the little girl (Sarah?) chases Benjamin Martin along the shore and cries. I can’t handle little girls crying very well.