By Judy Brackett
I try to skip over the Valentines’ gift giving thing. Over the years, my family have gotten their fair share of bad gifts from me. Like my first year away from home trying to be an adult.
Growing up, I’d never taken much time in choosing gifts for my parents at Christmas and this first year was daunting. I kept putting it off. In in case you are wondering, it is NOT appropriate to go to TG&Y at 6PM on Christmas Eve and purchase your mother some little sexy red and white lingerie piece in a size six. You can only imagine how things went on Christmas morning. Pretty sure I never made THAT mistake again. She was at least a size ten!
And there was the fruit cake our family passed around year after year in the Christmas grab bag. We had all gotten it at least once over the past five years. Naturally I wrapped it back up and re-gifted it the next year. That system worked just fine until my sister’s new husband decided to eat it. Who on earth eats fruit cake??? He almost died. Completely ruined our tradition on that one. He never wanted to do grab bags again. Seriously???? Who eats fruit cake?
There were some gifts I sincerely put hours of contemplation into and planned then entire scenario of appreciative hugs and “Thank You So Much” in my head. And yet, things just didn’t pan out exactly as expected.
As a young mother of two, I decided to get Corey (4 years) and Ashley (2 years) a kitten. Every home needs stuff like that to make it feel… well… “homey”. We already had houseplants, a cookie jar, a pit bull and a golden retriever. We needed a kitten. (Just go with it.)
First, I picked up the new kitten after work. Gently placing it into a cardboard box, the sweet thing nestled into a towel and fell asleep. Then the box was hidden in the very back of my Chevy Spectrum hatchback. Not a sound was heard from that box. Things were going as planned.
Next, I picked up the kids from the sitter’s and had them sitting in the back seat just in front of that sleeping kitten. “I have an amazing surprise for you two. Can you guess what it is? If you can guess, I will tell you… but otherwise you won’t know until we get home.”
All the way home… “Is it a He-Man doll?” “Does it have tires?” “Can I color on it?” “Can we eat it?” “Does Daddy know you got it and will he like it too?” “Does it come with pretty clothes?” “Will it fit in the bathtub?”
Finally arriving at home, they excitedly chased me around to the back of the car. Placing the large box on the ground, Corey was directed to ago ahead and pull the flaps open since he was stronger. Flipping the top open quickly, he and Ashley both peered into the box with wonderment. Their joy was about to flood my life… or maybe not.
Corey’s little face turned beet red and his eyes puddled with tears. What on earth? Was it dead? He backed away from the box pointing and exclaimed… “I was supposed to get a surprise and that stupid cat crawled into the box and ate it!” Ashley just stood there in her own two-year-old confusion.
Sometimes we just miss the mark. It is the thought that counts. But most of all, spend TIME because spending MONEY does not hold the same value. Much love!
