On the Seventh Day of a Feminine Christmas

The other day I offered to go to the village to pick up some needed wrapping paper for my mother so she wouldn’t have to go out in the snow.  “No, you won’t know what I want.  It needs to coordinate with my theme this year”, she replied.  I smiled inwardly.  Mom still works Christmas her way and her wrapped presents reflect that.

The woman in my picture above has embraced the movement.  I love the baubles, the red and gold packages, and her merry white and red dress.  I imagine she has planned her wrappings in such a way to express her exuberance for the season.  But I wonder sometimes…why do we care?

Surely, you’ve received a much-desired Christmas gift from special male in your life, wrapped in newspaper or a plastic grocery bag with a bow.  Department stores have “Men’s Nights” just to provide extra support and help for male shoppers who apparently don’t have a clue.  I think that men just can’t be bothered with fussy wrapping or maybe a man just doesn’t feel he has the dexterity to pull off a package like those depicted above.  No matter…we’ll provide the cheer of a well-wrapped gift.  It is truly, half the fun.

Last year I stretched my creativity a bit and used brighter colors that weren’t red or green or traditionally printed with Santa’s and snowmen.  It was a triumph – at least quietly to myself.  And I had a ball.  This year, I went on a magenta and teal campaign.  No one who has visited has said one thing about my shiny colorfully-wrapped gifts under the tree.  But I know when I hand Mom hers, she will exclaim out loud, “Oh how lovely you wrapped this!’  And I have no doubt, she will enchant me too.