Gift Giving

On Monday I took on the bold job of cleaning up the Christmas bomb that exploded in my house just days before. My family took on the task of eating any leftover cookies while I put to sleep the decorations for another year. Once my house was finally put back in order, the only thing I had left was to put away the wonderful gifts that were bestowed onto us this year. Unfortunately there were a few that would not be put away...ones that would be returned to the stores they came from.

I always hate returning a gift, it feels so tacky. This person spent their time and energy finding you the perfect gift and the best you can do is say thanks but no thanks. However, this year I did it. I asked for the receipt and took the gift back to the store. I felt horrible. So what have I done with gifts of Christmas past that were from the island of unwanted toys. Two words- re gifted.

I'm a big fan of the re gift. I've re gifted wedding presents for Christmas, and Christmas presents for weddings. In my warped mind I somehow feel like this is more justifiable than asking for the receipt and taking it back. I don't mean to seem ungrateful, it's not that at all. Here is a good example of what I'm talking about. This year my husband bought me an air popcorn popper. Not once have I ever aluded to the idea that I wanted an air popcorn popper. Maybe when I was in college and had the munchies, but definitly not as an adult. So I re gifted it...to him. He liked it. Problem sloved, at least that one. So the question is, what do you do with gifts that you don't like? Especially gifts that can't be hidden away.

Thinking about all this reminded me of a time when I was not only faced with this question but I was put in a position of complete weakness. I couldn't return or re gift. For over a year I had to pretend that this gift, or rather these gifts were the greatest thing since sliced bread, when in reality I hated them.

My family and I were about to take our first vacation away from home as pet owners. Fortunately for us our neighbor, "Jane" offered to watch our cat and dog for the week we were gone. It was a huge burden lifted knowing that our dear friend would be taking care of our pets. What we didn't know was that she would also be taking care of our house.

After a week of frolicking in the sun we returned home to find some slight changes to our home. In our absence, Jane took it upon herself to decorate and do some minor repairs to our house. It was bizarre walking into my kitchen from a long flight to find cut out wooden hearts hanging on my walls. The further I entered the more horrified I became.It looked like Cracker Barrel had invaded! Every room on my first floor was covered in 1990's country decor. Not only that, but she had re-plastered some spots on our walls that were showing some cracks. She also mixed batch of paint to match the walls to make the work look seamless. Jane had also cleaned the blinds, washed the curtains and scrubbed the floors. We were amazed!

We thanked her endlessly for her hard work. You see, Jane had come to regard us as children of her own. We truly appreciated all that she did in our absence. There was just one thing. The decorations. They weren't my taste, I didn't like them one bit, and they were everywhere. However, I couldn't bring myself to take them down. For the remainder of the time we lived in that house I posed as a country decor loving girl. When we moved, I put them in a box and that is where they stayed.

Gifts. I've come to regard the act of gift giving for what it is, an act. It's not the present, but the action. It's the fact that someone on this planet chose you to receive a gift. A gift to show their love and appreciation for you. That part of the gift I keep with me forever. The part that counts....the act.