The Eleventh Hour

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Let me ask you a question. Have you ever had this experience, whether with a party you've hosted, birthday presents you've given, or even Christmas gifts you've created or purchased for loved ones? OK here it is...you've felt relatively uninspired, but the occasion is approaching, and you have to do/give something, so you get or make something that will be appreciated and accepted with gratitude.

Then, it hits you...it's the day before the baby shower, or Christmas Eve or whatever and inspiration strikes! You've come up with THE perfect idea or gift that you must give that person, and all other ideas or preparations you've already made for the previous gifts are out the window.

No? Well, it's a regular occurence for me. Maybe it's the inner dialogue in the recesses of my brain that tell me I thrive and come up with the best ideas under pressure. Like the year in college I took basketweaving (pause here for laughter) and I decided in November that I would make a handwoven basket for everyone in my family. Crazy? Yes. Feasible? Probably. Genius? YES!

Or like this past weekend when I was making preparations for my daughter's 2nd birthday. I purchased a fun book and some summer clothes, and I felt a little badly that I hadn't made anything for her. Not that she would even know or care, but I do like to include a little "handmade from mommy" gift for the kids.

So Saturday night at 9:00 I started cutting into my rainbow stack of felt. And cutting. And cutting. Oh, this is going to be good. No patterns...just winging it. She's going to love it! I finished up around 12:30 Sunday night (Monday morning), and I did what I set out to do.

During the party and present-opening pandemonium, she hardly got a chance to look at everything, let alone appreciate the gifts so thoughtfully given by her friends and family. She doesn't know that I stayed up late making her gift, or that any number of her friends may have been scrambling at the last minute to get/make/wrap their gift to her.

My long, drawn-out point is, the gift recipient shouldn't know what goes on behind the scenes. The party attendees shouldn't know how you, the host, were inconvenienced by the appetizers that didn't work out or the hours it took to clean the house before they arrived. They should enjoy the fruits of your labor, and you'll enjoy the satisfaction that you've given them a gift or experience they'll cherish, just like I did today: