Well, It's a Start

I mentioned something to Peeper about needing to wrap some of Shrike's gifts, and she decided that we must do that right now. She even sent Shrike to the bedroom to take a nap. (That was not a very tough sell.) 

She helped quite a bit with the wrapping, actually. She did a good bit of the cutting, the vast majority of the tape-pulling-out (much to my chagrin) and way more folding and taping than I was really thrilled with, but after the first gift, I made myself just Let. It. Go. and allowed her to just throw the paper and tape on any which way if she wanted to. 

All the while, telling me, "I'll show you how an expert wrapper does it." 

Oh, okay, you do that. 

Shrike and I have always filled stockings for each other, and we've explained to Peeper that we have to do that because "Santa doesn't bring presents to grown-ups." She is totally cool with that concept, but did not want me to hide the two stocking gifts that I wrapped, to put in on Christmas Eve. After arguing with her for a little while, I realized that it Doesn't. Fucking. Matter. 

Shrike is neither going to sneak into her stocking to peek at her gifts, nor have her delusions shattered by finding out that Santa doesn't actual fill her stocking while he's dropping off Peeper's gifts. 

So, I let her pull the step stool over and put the gifts in Shrike's stocking. She decided to add a few more things on her own. 

There are some beautiful polished rocks (bought at a museum with Eena and Papa during Mommy's surgery), a washcloth, some magnet letters (including Shrike's initial; that's the only one Peeper told me about, I'm not sure what her reasons were for the others that she chose), some tissues, and an Easter egg pot holder ("I thought Mommy would like the colors."), another actual gift that she took out from under the tree and who knows what else.

She told us "I really like giving people presents and getting presents. I'm the present girl." I can see that. 

The tree looks pretty pathetic in comparison.