Gift Wrapping

A few years ago, a friend suggested I spread gift wrapping out over several days in December rather than waiting until the night before Christmas, making for a miserable Christmas Eve. 

Since then, I've been deliberate to do this, spending a few hours wrapping a few times throughout the month of December.  

This definitely makes the burden of gift wrapping easier to handle. 

This year, I just set up a gift wrapping station inside my master bedroom. 

I store all the gifts in one of our master bedroom closets and I can lock my bedroom door while they are out, so that makes my bedroom a most convenient spot. 

We already had a folding table from years of homeschool co-op. We just dragged that up from the storage. 

I brought in all the wrapping supplies from where they are stored in another closet upstairs and provided myself with a big trash bag. 

I listened to portions of The City of God, my current audio book, or various podcasts as wrapped. 

When I finished a gift, I'd open the door and place it at the top of stairs then go back inside my bedroom to wrap more, closing the door loudly to signal to my youngest daughter that another gift was ready. 

A few seconds later, I'd hear her coming up the stairs from wherever she was in the house to gather the gift and take it to the tree and of course, she'd announce to whoever it was for that they had another gift ready. 

Gift wrapping is one of my least favorite things to do in all of creation. 

But like many other things moms do to build up their home, I do it anyway. 

Setting up a gift wrapping station like this and spreading the work out over a few days is a way to make provision for my weak flesh and oft unwilling spirit. 

Of course, I do enjoy watching the kids unwrap their gifts, so it is always worth it.