Adventurous packages
I’ve stopped buying fancy wrapping paper for gifts. This is not some moral stand about wastefulness. Nor is it some effort at penny pinching. It is simply an acknowledgment that there is no point in buying paper with pictures on it when my children believe that drawing pictures on the package is part of wrapping the present. I think Link was the one who started it. The year he was 8, he carefully wrapped his gifts and then drew a picture of the contents on the outside of the package. He claimed the pictures were hints, but to me they looked like present spoilers. After that all the kids wanted to draw pictures on their packages. This year I just let the kids use my roll of packing paper. They love taking the sharpie marker to the package to draw the pictures. I’m trying to convince them that we could just use regular markers since the paper is not slick, but I guess using the sharpie is extra special. So we’ll be having something of a monochrome present pile.
This year Patch’s gifts are decorated with Legend of Zelda themes. That little stick figure with the pointy hat is Link. (The legend of Zelda Link, not Patch’s brother’s nickname Link.) Zelda Link is having many adventures. On the large package two Zelda Links are facing off against two snowmen with swords. It looks like the Zelda Links are winning because one snowman is down. I’m not sure what is happening on the smaller package, but those might be wolves and I think some of those stickmen are defeated foes. Gleek’s packages run heavily to unicorns and horses. Link’s packages tend to have Kirby or Mario. Kiki doesn’t draw on her packages anymore. Art is too important to her to put effort into a drawing that will be torn off. I looking at the pile of wrapped gifts makes me happy because I know that they’ve put a little of themselves into the wrapping.