Pre-Ramble: Hi, it’s me Daisy… resident canine and guest blogger extraordinaire. So, tick, tock … ’tis the day before Christmas and Mom is in the other room frantically trying to wrap presents. I want to be supportive, but really, when that is going on, you just have to gather up the chew toys and head out of Dodge.

From where I sit, it’s essentially a logistics issue. Usually short on time, Mom will try to cut corners, which just increases the likelihood that she will cut the paper too small. Then she’ll run out of tape or lose the scissors. And then there are the packing materials. Mom saves “good boxes” all year long for just this occasion. She’s an animal… rifling through the closet  trying to unearth just the right sized box for this or that, but invariably, there is nothing appropriate to whatever it is she’s trying to wrap. She probably wouldn’t want me to mention this, but in addition to good boxes, she also saves “good bags” and “good ribbon.”  These prized specimens reside in the wrapping closet along with rolls of decorative paper and random party decorations. 

If you read the blog posting about “lists” (12/3), you probably have an inkling of the depth of dysfunction going on over here, in this case regarding packaging materials. It’s sad really. And a fire hazard. All those bags and empty boxes filled with tissue - or worse - packing peanuts. I could write an entire treatise on the dynamics of packing peanuts (which are basically inedible, so what’s the point?). Suffice it to say that, since they are also not biodegradable, we corral them into a giant garbage bag until it is full enough to take over to be recycled at the local packaging store. The length of time it takes to rid the premises of the temporarily indispensible, but ultimately unwanted packing peanuts can be staggering. Dragging the unwieldy bag of styrofoam out to the car and then over to be recycled is a multiple-step process and colossal hassle.  Just because we have successfully captured the freakishly wily packing peanuts in a secure container doesn’t mean that they will make it from the house out to the car. Accordingly, just because the bags have been hauled out to the car, doesn’t mean that we’re in the mood to drive them over to the recycling shop. We can have bags of packing peanuts in the back of the Yukon for months, even passing by the recycling shop several times before actually pulling over and shepherding them through the door.

The Take-Away: There’s no take-away here, although, I’m sure Dad would be grateful if you would take away some of these boxes and bags. In her defense, even though Mom has an affinity for boxes, bags and other peripheral packing materials, it’s not like we have 40 cats living in the house  (believe me, you would have heard from me on that). These items are organized, stored in a respectable manner, and generally retrievable upon command. The fact is, a beautifully wrapped present can make a huge difference in the overall impact of the gift exchange experience. According to perennial wrap diva, Martha Stewart, “beautiful gift wrapping sends a message of thoughtfulness that is as important as the gift itself.”  I suggest using bacon-flavored rawhide chips as gift tags .

Trackback URI | Comments RSS