It's a Wrap!

Some of you may find this hard to believe, but Lily has not grasped the concept that presents are fun.  Tearing paper, digging into a gift bag, and searching for something new and fun is just not something she understands yet.

I was sharing this with a group of special needs moms and one of these super-smart ladies told me how she taught her son what to do with a gift.

She collected several of her son's favorite toys.

Now these were not new toys that she thought he would like.  These were his current favorite toys that she knew he loved, pulled straight out of the toy box.

Here comes the genius part.

She wrapped each of those items individually.

Then she gave her son one of the wrapped packages.

She demonstrated how to take off the bow.  How to tear the paper.  How to open the box.  How to remove tissue paper from a gift bag and peek inside.

When he did look in the box or bag, he was thrilled to find one of his absolute favorite toys inside.

It didn't matter the least bit to him that it wasn't new or not still inside the original packaging.

By doing this over the course of several days, he learned exactly what to do when given a present.  He knew how to open the gift and he knew why - to find something good!

Of course, now this sweet mom can't put any gifts under her tree until Christmas Eve because they'll all be opened otherwise!

But that's a small price to pay to see your child digging into a present, anticipating what he'll discover inside.

I'm going to try this brilliant idea with Lily.

The child I'll really have to watch, though, is Reagan.  She'll be the first to volunteer to tutor Lily in the art of unwrapping.

But it won't be out of the goodness of her heart.

No sir.

It'll be for purely selfish motives.

She'll be handing her own presents off to Lily for the sake of "practice" in an effort to get a sneak peek.

Reagan, if you're reading this..... I'm on to you!