When your kids get to be old enough to be excited for Christmas and everything that comes with it, you unlock a new level of fun and exuberance, as you sit back to watch your little ones experience brand-new things for the first time.
One of those things is opening presents. Whether it's for the holidays or turning another year older, your children will receive gifts that have been carefully curated by their parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, or family friends.
They'll come in different shapes and sizes, and they'll be wrapped in different ways.
Gift bags can be a sustainable and reusable option when it's time to wrap most presents, but I've always been partial to a parcel that's wrapped in patterned paper and topped with a coordinating bow.
There's just something extra enticing about watching your loved one unwrap a present you've put time and effort into wrapping just for them. The anticipation as they tug at the ribbon and tear at the paper to reveal what's inside is palpable.
But making your way through a layer of paper and, quite frankly, sometimes impenetrable tape (we've all encountered that present that was sealed with approximately half-a-roll of extra-adhesive transparent tape), can turn a stimulating opportunity into an increasingly frustrating encounter in a matter of moments for tiny toddlers who are still figuring out their fine motor skills.
With twins in your household, it means double the amount of gifts, multiple levels of mayhem, and twice as many chances for things to turn sideways.
Tap in the pull tab
Spare yourself, and your toddlers, the impending aggravation and incorporate this simple component into your wrap-job to make things easy, intriguing, and memorable for any gift-giving occasion.
A pull tab can be created very easily while you're wrapping the present.
You can either add on an extra inch or two of paper before you cut out the size you need, or you can cut a smaller tab off of the area you'll fold over to close up the corners of the parcel, as there's often excess paper there that can hide any tweaking you'll have done.
Then, wrap the present like you normally would. If you went with the first option outlined above, cut a small strip off of the end of the wrapping paper before you tape the first edge down.
If you went with the second option, be sure to cut out your pull tab before taping the last section of paper down.
For either option, you'll want to leave a small area along the back or side of the gift, where you can slide the pull tab perpendicularly into the wrap-job, so it can be taped down and easily grabbed by eager hands when it's go-time.
Whether your wrapping paper is double-sided with differing patterns on each side or is one-sided, with a color or pattern on the top and is blank on the bottom, pay attention to how things are looking when you place the pull-tab to make sure you're pleased with the results.
All of the independence, none of the audacity
Anyone who's dealt with a young person before knows they eventually reach a stage of development where they are fiercely independent, even if they're not fully ready and capable of doing a particular activity on their own just yet.
Having the pull tab already in place as a "permanent fixture" of the wrapping paper before your toddlers even touch the present allows you to secretly offer your assistance without having to suggest that they miiiight want some help when it's time to open the gift.
When your kids see the pull tab you've added to the present, they'll gravitate toward it and feel compelled to pull at it, which will help them get a jump start on ripping the paper away.
They can accept your veiled assistance and keep their street cred, and you can pat yourself on the back for successfully avoiding any instantaneous frustration you might otherwise have encountered for uttering the word "help."
Voilà! Mission accomplished on all fronts.
The real gift is their joy
There's no greater joy than making your loved ones happy. Seeing their face light up with a sweet smile or a lilting laugh brought on by something you did can manifest some major merriment.
But a close runner-up will be the fact that your crafting-while-wrapping component actually worked and helped your little ones have great, big fun while taking part in precious holiday traditions.
Do you have any tips or tricks you count on when it comes to wrapping or opening gifts with your little ones? What's your go-to? Let us know in the Comments section below.
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