Getting all wrapped up in the season

The season of giving is hurling toward us.  That means gifts and the presentation of the gifts.  I’m the rare one who loves wrapping presents. Searching for gift boxes sends me climbing into the attic or scouring the top shelf of that hall closet which I rarely open for fear of being buried alive under cascading “stuff.”  After I find just the right box, I place the gift inside on a bed of wrinkle-free tissue paper.  Then came the lid which I taped on all four sides to heighten the recipient’s anticipation (or maybe frustration). 
Next comes the wrapping paper which must be age-appropriate and gender-appropriate, and of course, the ribbon must match.   And, if the gift is for someone special whom I want to impress, I wrestle with the hot glue gun to adhere silk flowers to the ribbon. Such care!  And then came gift bags — plain ones, pretty ones, seasonal ones, and expensive ones all stuffed with wrinkled tissue paper and secured with raffia or streaming ribbons. Imagine deliberately-wrinkled tissue paper when I’m accustomed to pressing it with a warm iron before folding it neatly in a box.
Last week, we delivered our granddaughter’s birthday presents and watched her promptly turn the gift bag upside down dumping its contents on the floor before quickly      zero-ing in on the wrapped box inside.  Kylie tore immediately into the box the same way she dumped the bag.  She did not savor the wrappings.  So what if I had painstakingly wrapped the box in paper with a colorful pinwheel design and had cut out pinwheels and glued them on for a three-dimensional effect?  Oh well, her delight was infectious, and I quickly got over it.
All this to say — savor the wrappings and enjoy the gifts, but realize that sometimes the very best gifts come not in a wrapped box or in a gift bag.  I’ve yet to figure out how to put a smile in a bag or a hug in a box or tie a ribbon around an encouraging word.  And besides, how would we ever choose paper to wrap around that part of ourselves and our time that we give away?  Unwrapped and unbagged, they’re still gifts — precious, priceless gifts.  Give them extravagantly and receive them graciously this season and every day.