I had signed up at the beginning of the year for several PTO sponsored events at T's school. So far, I've helped out with reading night, putting up bulletin boards, counting box tops, and last night was my night to help out with Santa's Workshop by working at the gift wrapping table.
The timing was terrible. I'm still sick. I have no idea what is going on, but I'm heading back to the doctor first thing on Monday morning since whatever this is keeps morphing into something else into something else into something else. It's like the borg of sicknesses. Resistance is futile.
So, against the advice of my husband, I headed out for my shift yesterday evening. And then I sprang the whole - 'by the way, you should probably take the kids to this since S got to do this at her school already and this is a great way for T to get his Christmas shopping done. Cheaply.' He was less than thrilled at the thought of managing the kids through a Santa's workshop after a really, really long day at the end of a really, really long week. Totally understand, but life just sucks that way sometimes. Take. The. Kids.
I get there and finally find the gift table which has been supplemented by teens from the high school. The first three I ask have no idea who's in charge or where they are, so I finally just ask the only adult I see at the table, who also happens to be the busiest person. She says to just join the party and makes room for me.
To my huge relief considering the line of people waiting and the fact that there was no limit to the amount of gifts a person could buy, we were using bags for all the gifts unless the gift was too big to fit in the bag. That made things so much easier (and quicker).
The kids were awfully cute and I was impressed to see how many of them put a lot of thought into what they bought. I was also impressed with how polite they were. There are certain things I really love about living on a miltiary base, and this is one of them.
As the lines thinned out and we started clean up, I was really glad I came even though I didn't feel great. The other lady working the gift table was saying her family has been sick too, so I'm guessing that it's going around all over the place.
One of the last kids I wrapped gifts for wanted me to put different bows (which we didn't have) on all her gifts. I offered to make curly ribbon bows for her but we only had one color ribbon. She thought about it for a second, and then said, "Nah. I want everyone to feel special and if they all look alike, then no one will."
"But," I told her, "it's the fact that you chose, paid for, and wrapped their gifts that will make them feel special, right?"
She shrugged. "Maybe. But huge pretty bows wouldn't hurt."
Ahh, the wisdom of kids.
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