Of Gift Wrapping and Giving...

I love gift wrapping as much as gift giving. To be exact I like paper.
I love colourful printed gift wrappers.
I love wrapping loads of gifts in an assortment of beautiful paper.
After wrapping them, I would stack them up.
I would spend hours taking photos of the neatly wrapped gifts,
soaking in their beauty and neatness....

Recently, I bought and wrapped more than twenty boxes of gift for my girl's teachers, who happen to be my dear colleague. Buying gifts, wrapping them and get them personalised is an annual ritual in our family. Ever since their first day in school, my two children were told to honour and respect their teachers. They were roped in to select gifts, wrap them and have their teachers' name on each box. In short, they had never been left out of this 'holy' process.

From my years of observation and experience, one thing that holds true concerning gift giving among the young kids is the role of parents. By and large, respectful parents produce respectful kids.

Teacher's Day gifts wrapped up and personalised. It's time consuming yet satisfying. The personalisation process alone stretched out for more than three hours.

The 'little girl' (on the mobile phone casing) refused to be left out.

For her beloved BM teacher, Cikgu Amira Z.

Madam Chia's, our senior assistant.

Mdm. Chong's !

For Mdm. Aun, the angelic principal.

Madam Goh's!

For Madam Lee, her loving kindy's teacher.

Madam Yu's. Another caring kindy's teacher.

Miss Ong's. The young and talented.

The whole process was longish but it won't deter me from delving

 in rounds and more rounds of gift wrapping!

Gifts From the Heart ...

The following is a guest post from Lyn, my daughter. 

Lyn is a twelve- year old who loves singing, reading and 
she's the girl who upholds what is just, especially fair treatment 
and due reward in accordance with standards, honour and law. 

It isn't the size of the gift that matters, but the size of the heart that gives it.  
~Quoted in The Angels' Little Instruction Book by Eileen Elias Freeman, 1994

The above quote is a testimonial of gratitude and affection to my dearest teachers.
And, the following lovely pictures which were captured on May 16 say it all...

Thank you teachers.

Terima kasih cikgu.

谢谢各位老师

Teacher's Day Revisited ...

Teacher's Day was celebrated with much pomp and grandeur throughout the nation on May 16.

Most of the kids would think of cards, little gifts and flowers coming every Teacher's Day. They wanted to present their favourite teachers with the chosen gift. They would try to outdo each other in presenting their teachers with teacher's day presents. Kids, like most adults do have their ego, too. They aimed to be the 'Number One' gift presenter of the year. Hence, more often than not, their parents, specifically their moms have to either chauffeur them around, hunting for gifts or rolling up their sleeves and got into action, making cards or handicrafts for the kids beloved teachers.

My girl painstakingly did this pens-formation 

I, for one, prefer hand-made cards to the commercial ones. Hand-made cards exudes more aesthetic values compared to their commercialized partners. The card maker was actually imprinting the little cards with her 'heart' as she was making them. She would fondly think of each teacher's, their characteristics, their likings and all those little 'things' concerning the recipient. With all the informations in hands, the cards would then be designed individually.

Those little cards would be better off if they were made together with the kids. Involving them in the process enhances  the values of the cards. Along the process, kids could be reminded of teachers' sacrifices and the need to respect and honour the individuals called teachers.

In short, it's an annual 'ritual' in my family to prepare cards and gifts on Teacher's Day eve. Many a time, we, my kids and I retired to bed shortly after midnight!

We have found joy in giving...

"If you have much, give of your wealth;

If you have little, give of your heart."

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