I am not a big gift giver. And as such it generally makes me uncomfortable to receive. I am only recently fessing up about this, but with more attention paid to a person’s particular love language I guess I am beginning to see my place in it all. I will occasionally make something for someone, but only when compelled, and generally only when I think they may have regard for wool and color and handwork in general. Chris says that I do a good job giving him gifts, but I think my 3 are the exception as I am close in enough to see the holes that can be filled, or where a potential need might be and I am not just arbitrarily bringing more unnecessary and unneeded things into their space.
I come from a family of gift givers. My daughter is one as well. They love showering the people they love with something thoughtful. It is sincere and genuine and I just do not fit that mold. Sometimes it can be wonderful- generally when the thing is a combination of necessary and functional- but most often it is uncomfortable and leaves me feeling more guilt than gratitude. And that is not to say that I do not make an effort, or do not show up with as much grace as I can around the whole exchange- because it is certainly an exchange- I just really wish that we could skip it.
I think that my love language is most likely time. That feels like the biggest commodity and a genuine marker of care. I want to spend time with the folks that are dear to me, even if it is not as frequent as we would both like it to be I at least aim to show up with my attention open to our time together to the best of my ability.
So, as I and most likely most of you scramble around to make sure everyone is checked off of your list, let’s take a moment right now to cut ourselves and everyone else some slack. In as many places as we can might we opt for holding hands and sharing some heart felt words. Or maybe we can make some cookies together or share a warm meal. And when we get a little more snow you can come over and sled at the park and laugh so hard we howl.