gifts & their wrapping

some gifts you have to wait to be a mom to fully appreciate. as a mother of four smalls i have been given a great variety of 'thoughtful' gifts. scraps of scribbled paper. makeshift necklaces. lint. a half licked frozen yogurt. soggy crackers. dirty kleenexes. dandelions. crazy creations. frogs & worms. it doesn't matter if it wriggles, if it smells or smudges my shirt. it's the big heart that gave it that makes it a gift.

if you were anything but a mom, you may miss the preciousness of their small offerings.  maybe it's because of their unique wrapping. spiders wrapped in excitedly cupped hands. treasured rocks wrapped in tiny muddy palms. three tiny soldiers proudly wrapped in a pair of socks.  the wrapping is sometimes the best part.

"i don't know what's in the box, but i love it. unopened gifts contain hope." 

{jarod kintz, this book's title is invisible}

i love opening gifts. no matter how small, no matter how ordinary, no matter what the wrapping paper.

some gifts can come with a slight odor

someone spent his whole nap time
wrapping these gifts:
three toy soldiers & their "shooters"