Tough Crowd--NOT!

Thanks to Emily, our one-of-a-kind children's minister, I was able to separate myself from Sawyer yesterday afternoon long enough to go up to school and help Peyton's third-grade class wrap presents for the family they've adopted for Christmas. Peyton's teacher, Mrs. Jones, had sent an e-mail requesting extra pairs of hands--and gift paper--to wrap the various items, and since I haven't had many opportunities to help out in Peyton's class, I wanted to volunteer my time and effort to this activity.

When I picked Peyton up on Tuesday afternoon I asked Mrs. Jones if our gift items should be boxed prior to coming, and whether or not additional boxes would be needed. She indicated that providing our own box would be helpful, and I assumed that she was telling the other parents the same thing.

WRONG.

I have never been particularly talented when it comes to gift-wrapping, and I really only deliver my best work when the object I'm wrapping is perfectly symmetrical, free of protruding edges and preferably nice and firm. So I'm not sure why it is exactly that wrapping presents with eight- and nine-year-olds appealed to me . . . perhaps I felt that I would be on equal footing and could really relate to them??

Lacking though I may be in dexterity, no sooner had I walked into Peyton's classroom than I nonetheless discovered that I was subconsciously entertaining the notion that I was going to be a "guiding hand" for my young charges and was going to teach them everything I knew. Ha. The teacher divided the class into three groups (she worked with the second group while one other parent took the remainder) and I found myself overseeing four of the sweetest girls in third grade. And let me tell you, they taught me a thing or two about gift-wrapping!

The biggest problem we faced was the absolute dearth of gift boxes. Parents had literally gone to the department store, made their purchases and dropped them off in flimsy plastic bags. Oh boy, this is gonna be fun! But those relentlessly cheerful, optimistic third-graders would not be deterred. And as I measured and cut paper, I realized how excited these little girls were to be participating in the preparations, and I vowed right then and there to let them do the lion's share of the work. I offered encouragement here and there and made sure everyone could reach the scissors and tape, but I didn't say a word about the edges that weren't folded just so, or flaps that were bulky or laden with adhesive.

One child had bought several articles of clothing but had not provided a box, so I folded the clothing into a neat bundle and she took it from there. "Oh, my grandma wraps clothes like this all the time. I can do this!" Ditto a very complicated-shaped box containing a baby doll--another child probably used close to half a roll of tape on the package, but when she was done I really thought that I probably couldn't have wrapped it better myself.

But the best part was listening to the girls' comments as they prepared to wrap each present: "These are so cute!"; "Oh, Ashley is going to love this!"; "Oh, these are so soft--I love these!" And as tight as money is right now, I'm so glad Peyton and my other kids have had multiple opportunities over the last couple of months to focus their attention on families who otherwise wouldn't have any gifts under their Christmas tree. I've loved seeing the joy in their faces as they have picked out toys and other items that they hope will make another child's Christmas just a little brighter. Contentment with what we have (especially at Christmastime) remains a somewhat fluid concept in our family, so I'm thankful that I've witnessed so many acts of selfless giving on the parts of my children--and that's a lesson I can never get enough of!