UNITED STATES—It was no argument 10 to 15 years ago, I would easily wrap all my Christmas gifts, but within the past 2-3 years, I have swapped wrapping gifts for bagging them. Why? Bagging a gift is just so much easier. To be honest, time seriously got the best of me in recent years, and I was put into a crunch situation where I had to bag presents otherwise the gifts wouldn’t have gotten to the appropriate people.

However, I recently had a debate with a family member that said, no way, you have to wrap a gift if at all possible and I didn’t agree with that assessment. I think certain items like coats, pillows, handbags and items that are quite bulky can be placed into a bag. Could you possibly get a large box to place the obscenely large items into? Yes. I recently purchased a massive item or at least that is how the item was given to me about two years ago from a retailer.

The bag was so large I was thinking in my head how in the hell was I to wrap the item? Guess what, the retailer actually gave me a box large enough that was big enough for me to actually wrap the present. Then becomes the big issue of what type of wrapping paper you can use that will actually work for me to wrap this massive box. Well one thing is for sure, you cannot use that wrapping paper from the Dollar Store because it is too thin and will tear because of the heavy box you are attempting to wrap. In addition, that roll of paper is likely too short to even cover the entire box.

Now if you go to those club stores, they do have those massive rolls of wrapping paper that is thick and longer than I can imagine ever seeing. It might take a bit of time, but I am a precision wrapper whenever I wrap actual presents. I’m a perfectionist about those corners, the type of tape I use, the thickness of the tape and ensuring the gifts look pristine. Please don’t ask me because I cannot give you a reason behind the method of my madness, I’m just finicky on things.

I don’t do bows though. I am not a bow person when it comes to presents and rarely and I mean rarely will you see me use string or bows on a gift. I just find them to be wasteful, hell, wrapping paper is wasteful because the people who receive the gifts just tear things apart and then it is tossed. With a bag you can at least reuse the bag for other gifts or when the next Christmas rolls around or if you have a generic bag, it can be used as a birthday gift for someone else.

I will admit for 2023, I think I’m going to do a little bit of wrapping and bagging of gifts. Unlike most people, I like to do my wrapping solo. I wait maybe three to four days before Christmas, and I take all the gifts that I have purchased, and I take them to my basement where I have this massive table that is perfect for wrapping gifts. I put on some Christmas music, and I just take my time and wrap. It is like my solo me time. I don’t think about work, I don’t think about family, I don’t think about anything, but the gifts that I am wrapping at the time, and it is like the most peaceful thing in the world.

I mean who doesn’t love a great Christmas song and who doesn’t like the notion of putting presents together to bring smiles and joy to the faces of everyone else. I know I do, and I think for the 2023 season I am ready to do the boxing and wrapping thing again, something that I have not done in quite some time.