"If it is not wrapped, it is not a present."

-
I read that somewhere either last week or the week before. At first I dismissed it as some trite fluff masquerading as a deep thought, but ... (perhaps JJ's upcoming birthday is making me reflect on it a little more) ... it is growing on me.

I can't remember the last time we wrapped a birthday gift. It gets stuffed in a bag and covered with a bit of coloured tissue paper. I am thinking I want to wrap Jason's gift in at least two layers, maybe more.

(I think the quote comes from Crafty TV Writing: Thinking Inside the Box by Alex Epstein, but I am not about to reread the book to try and reference the quote.)

Image nabbed from here.

Comments

Barbara said…
I think most kids are far more interested in what's inside than how it's wrapped. Gift bags are sensible because they are reusable!

Of course you could wrap the birthday present in successively bigger boxes, like a Russian nesting doll...
September 25, 2007 11:54 PM
buzybee said…
Hi Richard,

Your post title reminds me of the saying:

Yesterday is history,
Tomorrow is future,
Today is a gift,
That's why it is called "present".

How about wrapping yourself up and giving yourself to Jason? hehehe
September 26, 2007 2:27 AM
Mother of Invention said…
Today, it is a real novelty to receive or even see and "real" gift wrapped present. I have to admit, those gift bags sure save me a ton of time at Christmas!

Is she still into Barbies? A crafty kit thing she can make like painting wood pieces already cut out. Michael's is great for this stuff!
A badminton set for the backyard?

tell us what you ended up getting.
September 26, 2007 10:48 PM
Richard said…
barbara: I thought about that too, but I think it is too much effort to find fitting boxes. I remember my daughter's first Christmas, she was more interested in playing with the wrapping paper and boxes than the actual toys.

bee: if only I could, but I think he might guess from the size and shape. We should always try to make a gift of ourselves to others.

MOI: I don't think so. She did say would like a large stuffed animal, so I will probably get that for along. I already bought a bought he a Q&A science book (ooh, what a surprise) and will probably give her a bit of money as well.
September 27, 2007 8:07 AM
Mother of Invention said…
SCIENCE book? Now why didn't I think of that! (HA! Yep...no surprise!)

I love buying stuffed animals for kids, especially if they don't have a million already. I only had a few my whole life but they were very special.
September 27, 2007 12:58 PM
Richard said…
MOI: no, not really surprising. I always buy books. I like books that have facts or information. dinosaur books are good for boys (I think they are good for girls too, but, even in this day and age, stereotyping abounds and I am dissuaded from buying dinosaur books for girls)
October 03, 2007 2:48 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chinese Wisdom Concerning Money

-
[19September-2007 @ 17:11 EST: Revised preamble. This page still gets the most search hits: There is no Anthony de Croud. The e-mail is SPAM. I post things that pique my fancy at the moment. I like the 8 precepts, but the rest of the e-mail is junk. However, I thought it fair to post everything in its entirety. I did not write the e-mail. I did not forward the e-mail. I strongly encourage you not to forward it either. (I also encourage you to reply to whomever sent you the e-mail and tell them you don't appreciate getting junk mail.)] Received this in our e-mail (English translation follows): PRECEPTO CHINO SOBRE EL DINERO EL DINERO PUEDE COMPRAR UNA CASA, PERO NO UN HOGAR, EL DINERO PUEDE COMPRAR UN RELOJ, PERO NO EL TIEMPO. EL DINERO PUEDE COMPRAR UNA CAMA, PERO NO EL SUEÑO. EL DINERO PUEDE COMPRAR UN LIBRO, PERO NO EL CONOCIMIENTO. EL DINERO PUEDE PAGAR UN MÉDICO, PERO NO LA SALUD. EL DINERO PUEDE COMPRAR UNA POSICIÓN, PERO NO EL RESPETO. EL DINERO PUEDE COMPRAR LA SANGRE, PERO
Read more

Of retirement and death

-
All I long for, all I have longed for for years is to retire (prior to wanting to retire, my ambition was to play). Given a chance not to work, I would take it. However, this is not because of laziness or some inherent trait of sloth. Rather it is because I want to pursue my own interests and ideas; I want to do my own thing. One of the saddest things I find in talking with people about not working (aside from obvious disapproval) is that they like working, they would get bored not working, after all, there is only so much TV one can watch. Hmmm ... a pretty sad comment I think. I have a mind full of ideas. There are lots of things which grab my interest, which distract me as I journey through life. Finding what I want to do is hard., because every week I can have a new thing I want to pursue. Some might argue that I am not disciplined. Definitely, I am a poor finisher - great starter, but lousy finisher. I believe I have found what my ideal job would be: owning and running an incubato
Read more

Half-and-half

-
Borrowing and modifying an idea from Ingrid , I present 14 bits of information about myself. Seven are real. Seven are false. This is also partially inspired by Carra 's post about weird things about herself. When I was into model rocketry, I used to roll my own rocket engines and make my own rocket fuel. I often had "catastrophic" engine failure. I have never been intoxicated. Not even a little bit "happy". I have had the privilege and pleasure of going out with women from every continent except Antarctica (for the obvious reason there are no indigenous Antarcticans). I volunteered one Christmas at a soup kitchen. I naively believed that such simple acts of generosity helped people over temporary setbacks until they could get back on their feet. The reality was these people were pretty wretched and needed far more than a ladled bowl of soup, a slice of turkey, some stuffing, mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce to get them "over the hump". It was a sta
Read more