Raindrops on Roses

Prepared. I feel prepared.

Gifts have been purchased or made, and wrapped. Even the ones for my Dad, whose failing dexterity (sob) means he can’t handle unwrapping things anymore. To be honest, the only things he handles dexterously these days are the imaginary filaments he keeps trying to hand us. It’s heartbreaking and reminds me how much I love him.

I’ve snuck my nieces’ small gift under the tree at their house - well, tried to sneak, just not with a lot of success. That felt necessary - I’m giving my brother and his lovely wife a couple of days before they have to cope with a box of sugar in their children’s hands. (I hear you say maybe I shouldn’t have given the school-age children who have already learned to hear what they want to hear a box of sugar. Rest assured, onlookers, that I did sort of know what I was doing. It’s something for them to DO as a family, and for children whose love language is Shared Time, that seemed important.)

Things that have to get mailed are on their way. They’ll arrive next week, for some post-Christmas holiday cheer.

Husband and I talked out the oddness of me doing his shopping for him, by way of ordering some things I liked and have them sent to him to wrap. It’s made the season immensely less stressful for both of us, and a practice that we can experiment with in future years.

I’m a little stunned by the last month - I’ve built two entire websites at work, while also shopping for and even making several Christmas presents. Where did I find the time?

And yes, I know some of you might be asking why I bother. I love gifts. I love giving them, I love receiving them. Gifts are my love language. And we came very, very close this year to not being able to give any in-person. If it hadn’t been for a couple of unexpected cash gifts, we would have apologized deeply to family and asked them to please just think of us fondly this year. So on top of loving gifts, on top of realizing that what I celebrate about Christmas is Generosity and Gratitude - I’m also very grateful and joy-filled that we’ve been able to do as much as we have.

And now we’re off to go and deliver some holiday joy.