It's just a package....

Everyone has their little 'things'; small nuances that make up the person they have become.  In the last few years, I've found that what some people have called 'pickyness', I prefer to call my quirks. And I like having quirks.

Christmas brings out one of my quirks.  I'm not the wife/mother/woman that decorates the whole house.  You will likely NEVER see a Santa's village or picturesque township of any kind in my home near Christmas.  You will probably not even see lights decorating the outside of our home; unless Eric does that.  This lack of decoration does not lend itself solely to Christmas.  My home doesn't have Easter clothes, Fall clothes, Christmas clothes, or Halloween clothes.  It's just not my style.

However...the packages and tree are a different story.  I guess it started the year I somewhat boycotted Christmas.  I was still expected, of course, to give Christmas presents; even though I was not in a cheerful or giving mood.  So I complied.  And everyone got their packaged wrapped in brown paper and tied with string.  As I was begrudgingly wrapping gifts....I realized that I was giving people 'brown paper packages tied up with string' and that was a few of MY favorite things!  Ever since then...oh boy.

Those who know me, also know that I have a 'quirk' against play doh, modeling clay, glitter...ya know, stuff that makes a huge mess no matter how careful you are.  And E and Q are not careful - so, much bigger mess. Those items are, in fact, banned from my home.  Well last year I was feeling quite festive and decided that my packages would be wrapped in black paper with white whimsical designs OR white paper with black whimsical designs...and all bows/ribbon would be red.  Classy.  I was proud.  It only took wrapping the first gift and looking at my hands to realize, these beautiful, whimsical patterns were designed out of g.l.i.t.t.e.r.  Oy.  Not only on the packages, but the new ornaments that E and I picked out (which were pink and blue)...covered, I mean COVERED in glitter.  It was like a snowglobe threw up in my house.

I still have some of that paper and I used it for our Thankmas wrappings (sorry, Mitch and Grant).  This year, my mind is a whirlwind of ideas.  The tree is still pink and blue ornaments with white and blue lights.  The only ornament that is out of the theme is my sock monkey because he's always on my tree.  But the wrapping...oh the wrapping...it will be different this year.

Will I wrap in all white, with different colored bows for each person?  Will I wrap in a particular paper for each child?  Will there be name tags or will the kids have to guess which paper is their's?  Will I revisit the brown paper packages?  Decisions, decisions, decisions....