Open Your Gifts

On Christmas Day, we were at my brother-in-law's home to celebrate with my husband's side of the family. There were 17 of us and when it came time to open gifts, things were a little chaotic with paper and ribbons and boxes flying everywhere. My daughter (age 15) and her cousin (our neice is 12) opened their gifts from Mamaw and Papaw at the same time and discovered that they both received the same thing -- Honeywell Air Purifiers. Okay, you can imagine the reaction of two teen/preteen girls upon learning that they have just received air purifiers for Christmas. They weren't quite sure what to say and had confused looks on their faces. Nothing against air purifiers, but it's not something most teenage girls have on their wish list.

Now, my mother-in-law has been known to give some "different" gifts and be a little eccentric (she gave my husband a Ped-Egg, by the way). So, the girls merely gave her a hug and said their thank-yous.

Later that day, we packed up our gifts and goodies and headed home. We soon realized that we accidentally left behind my daughter's air purifier. I felt bad because I didn't want anyone to think we purposely left it behind and made a mental note to try to get back over there soon and pick it up.

Flash forward to Tuesday, January 3rd. We still hadn't made it over to get the air purifier. I received a call from my father-in-law a.k.a. Papaw. He told me that he enjoyed watching the girls open their air purifiers but he had a little secret...you see, the girls never actually opened the box that the air purifiers were in, so they never realized that their gifts were not really air purifiers! He didn't tell me what was really inside the box, only that I needed to get over to my brother-in-law's house so my daughter could check it out again.

When we picked up the gift and opened the box, we discovered something very special indeed. My mother-in-law was passing down several items from her vintage china collection. There were teacups and plates, a sugar bowl and teapot, and a crystal tiered serving dish. What a nice and thoughtful gift to give to her granddaughters! It will probably be a few more years before my daughter truly appreciates this gesture but I think that someday she will cherish these family heirlooms.

Moral of the story: when opening gifts, make sure you actually open the gift!