I am many things -- tired, late, emotionally sunburnt from parenting a toddler and a tween -- but today? Today I was a mastermind. A gift-wrapping ninja. A holy agent of chaos wrapped in Dollar Tree tape and motherly vengeance.
It was my daughter's birthday, and I had one goal: Suprise this child so good it rewired her nervous system.
Phase One: The Deception Begins
We start with not one, not two, but four boxes. Three of which are tumbler boxes. All previously gifted. All deeply loved. All-- coincidentally-- almost the same size and shape, but each just small enough to fit one inside of the other.
She opens the first box, a wrapped medium sized Amazon box.
Nothing fancy. Just a humble, unsuspecting cardboard shell of joy.
She tears into it like any soon to be 12-year-old expecting greatness would.
Inside? Another wrapped box.
She tears into the second box: TUMBLER.
She looks at me like, "Okay, weird flex, Mom, but I do love hydration."
Third Box: TUMBLER AGAIN.
This time, it's the one her little brother got a WEEK AGO for his birthday.
At this point, she's side-eyeing me like I'm a villain origin story in progress.
"You did NOT wrap up my baby brother's birthday trash box."
ALSO at this point, she's got Tumbler PTSD and is visibly questioning all of her life choices.
Fourth Box: TUMBLER. AGAIN.
Phase Two: Confusion & Betrayal
Now she's laughing nervously like "Haha you're so silly, Mom!"
But I see it in her eyes. The doubt. The betrayal. The what-kind-of-budget-birthday-is-this panic setting in.
Then -- THEN -- she notices a wad of obnoxiously taped bubble wrap deep inside Tumbler #3.
She digs. She peels. She claws like a raccoon breaking into a Costco cheesecake.
I wrapped this thing like I was protecting the Crown Jewels from a toddler with scissors (because to be fair, I was).
And then--
THE SCREAM
A sound so pure, so primal, it activated all the neighbor's Ring Cameras.
She saw the phone. THE PHONE. Her first cell phone ever.
And I?
I was victorious.
Not because she got what she wanted. But because she had absolutely no idea it was coming.
And I got the biggest, most tearful, most koala-bear-level hug of my parenting career.
Moral of the Story?
God gives good gifts... but sometimes He wraps them in confusion.
Sometimes you've got to dig through stuff you already have.
Stuff you've outgrown.
Stuff that feels like a letdown...
Before you finally reach the exact "thing," you've been praying for.
It's hidden under layers.
It takes time.
It may be covered in tape and bubble wrap and look like nothing you expected.
But when it comes?
JOY. OVERFLOWING. FULL-BODY TWEEN SHREIKING KIND OF JOY.
So today, I learned:
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Never underestimate the power of a well-wrapped decoy.
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Tumbler trauma is real.
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And God? He's the original surprise-gift-giver.
He waits for just the right moment, after you've ripped through the old things, after you've almost given up hope, to say:
| "I had this waiting for you all along."
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