SAVE THE RIBBON

I was in my bedroom wrapping Christmas gifts when my son Alex walked in. “STOP! DON’T COME ANY CLOSER!” I cried as I scanned the bed to see if any of his gifts were still out and unwrapped. Once I was satisfied that none of his were I breathed a sigh of relief and looked over at him. “Sorry about yelling like that. I’m a little preoccupied with wrapping.”

I began digging through a container that held all my ribbons.

“It’s the ‘save the ribbon’ box’” He laughed. “I’ve got so many Christmas memories of us unwrapping presents and hearing you say ‘Don’t forget to save the ribbon!’ as you’d hold out your hand before it would even touch the ground!”

“Hey, this box has saved me a lot of money over the years and your presents always look nice.” I pulled out one ribbon that was too short for the package I was working on. “Darn it. That would have looked pretty on that.” I rolled it back up and put it back in the container. “What’s up with you?” I asked as I pulled another ribbon out of the container and watched as it unraveled across the bedroom floor. “Definitely too long.” I sighed.

“Nothing’s up with me.” He watched as I began rolling the ribbon back up. “I was just checking to see if you needed anything.” He pointed to the ribbon in my hands. “Why not just cut that one to size?” He asked.

I looked over at him with a horrified look on my face. “Because I might have a bigger package that would need a longer ribbon. That’s why.” I shook my head at his total lack of ribbon saving skills.

Alex shook his head. “Well, if you don’t need anything…”

“Wait. I didn’t say that.” I cried. “Do you want to help me wrap?”

“I was thinking more along lines of seeing if you wanted me to get you a glass of water.” Alex said as he was slowly backing out of the room. He pointed over to the bed. “I know how much this stresses you out.”

I’d pulled another ribbon from the container and unrolled it. “Ah… this one might do the trick!”

Just then our doorbell rang.

“I’ll get it!” Alex said as he headed down the hall. “I’m expecting a delivery from Amazon.”

“Hey, if it comes in a good box save it!” I called after him. “I can always use a good box this time of year.”

Alex came back a few minutes later holding up a box. “Is this one good?”

I looked over at him. “Of course.” My hands were busy trying to finish tying a bow so I pointed with my chin to the pile of empty boxes I already had at the foot of my bed. “Just toss it with the others.”

Alex tossed it with the half a dozen other boxes. “Where’d you get all these boxes from?”

“I’ve been collecting them for the last month.” I held out my wrapped gift, giving myself a moment to admire my work before handing it to Alex. “Can you put that under the tree with the others I’ve finished?”

“Sure.” He took the present and was almost out of the room when I stopped him.

I was back looking through the ribbon box. “You know, maybe I will take a glass of water when you get the chance.”

“Sure. I’ll be back in a second.” He held up the present. “I told you I’m here to help.”

“Not with ribbon hunting you’re not.” I laughed.

“Nope.” Alex laughed. “I’d never match your wrapping skills.”

I quickly looked up and started to laugh. “You’re really good at that.”

“At what?” Alex pretended to look confused as he walked out of the room.