I am the gift-wrapper

Every family needs one and since I was was old enough to keep a secret the job of wrapping Christmas presents has always fallen on me.

My wrapping isn’t particularly fancy or unique. It’s the process I love.

I love picking out the paper, curling the ribbon, and adding the bows. I love when my scissors start to glide while cutting the paper. I love creasing and folding and hiding the tape.

When family members send gifts for the kids they apologize for not sending them wrapped but really I’m smiling inside. It just means I get to pick out another special paper to represent their family under the tree.

Before I was the gift-wrapper

I was raised by a single parent which meant all of the Christmas magic fell on the shoulders of my mom alone. She worked hard creating a beautiful life for my brother and I but when it came to the “extras” she was nothing if not practical.

Rather than spend time wrapping she just threw all of our gifts in one huge black trash bag. Some might think it sounds kind of sad, others would call it genius. I remember loving it! We woke on Christmas morning to a bag bigger than we were filled with toys.

How my mom ended up with such a daydreamy daughter is beyond me.

Christmas in Oregon

We spent many Christmases with my grandparents on my dad’s side. They lived on a farm in rural Oregon and the property was pure magic. Foggy, cold, and big with so many nooks and crannies to explore.

On Christmas morning while my cousins and I opened presents we handed all of our bows to my Aunt Judy. She would put them in her feathered brunette hair and by the time all the gifts were opened, she was covered in bows of every color.

Gift bags

In the ’90s gift bags started to be a thing and it was like a wrapping revolution for me.

One year, when I was around 13 or 14 my mom and I decided to skip the wrapping and do gift bags instead. We spent hours picking them out and everyone loved them.

Years later, I was talking with my cousins and that Christmas and those bags came up. My cousin said, “I think you and your mom are the ones who got us all exchanging gift bags. I think I still have some of those bags.”

I was totally caught off guard. My mother had been dead for years, but just thinking about something my mom touched still floating around and that someone remembered the same happy memory I remembered… Sometimes life is just too beautiful for my little heart to handle.

I had to look away because it would have been too awkward to start crying.

This year’s wrapping

Since we became parents, my husband and I made the decision to try and always have Christmas in our home. There is something special about a small quiet Christmas where it’s just us. We love creating memories of the kids waking up in their beds excited to see what Santa has brought.

We will open gifts, eat tangerines and pancakes, and try not to lose the baby in all the mess. My husband will wear a Santa hat, I will miss Olive and my mom and my dad. The kids will do or say something extra cute and he and I will glance at each other from across the room. I will smile and he will nod.

At some point in the day we will find each other in the kitchen. He will hug me and say, “Good job mama.” and I will say “pretty lucky” and then he will say, “yeah, pretty lucky.”

But before all that we will wrap

This Christmas Eve my husband and I will be up until after midnight building toys, breaking down Amazon boxes, re-arranging furniture, realizing how much we spoil our kids, and of course, I will be the gift-wrapper.

Does your family have a gift-wrapper? Do you have a favorite Christmas wrapping memory? Drop a comment below. I would love to hear it.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! If you enjoyed this and would like to follow along, please consider subscribing.