Christmas Wrapping

My family is a family of present-wrappers––good ones, at that. Perfectionists, really. Here's a recent conversation that happened on the family Hangout:

This conversation reminded me of my first real lesson in wrapping. I was 6 or 7 years old, and I had just bought a perfectly square box, foil green paper, and a bright red bow to wrap my sister Lexia's Christmas present. Having all the necessary things ready and the prettiest paper I could find, I was excited to get to work. I sat on the floor of our library and tried as hard as I could to make it perfect. To my utter frustration, I accidentally tore the paper and didn't have enough to start over with a clean sheet. I tried to work around the tear, but I couldn't do it. I cried aloud and began to sob. My sister Summer heard and came to my rescue. She calmed me down and showed me how to wrap the present with minimal tear visibility. I remember watching in awe as Summer deftly wrapped and created a piece of art in the process.

And that's what present-wrapping is, really––an art form. It takes patience and a good eye for balance and symmetry and clean lines and geometry. It can be quite beautiful. Just take a look at this:

It's simple, but lovely. More importantly, it's enticing. That's the beauty of a well-wrapped present––it makes a person want to open it!

Anyway, it's fun wrapping presents, and it's fun wrapping them neatly. To be fair, it's also fun watching my brother-in-law wrap them horribly and laughing at his complete lack of artistry, but I'm glad I learned how to wrap and wrap well. I'm glad for that Christmas so long ago when Summer exercised patience and took the time to show me something she was excellent at. I'm glad for a funny family quirk. :)

Thing I'm thankful for: the calm of Christmas Eves