First World Problems- Christmas Style

Hi! It's Jilly. I was reading my Parents magazine a couple weeks ago, and I stumbled across a disturbing article. It was a Q&A, Dear So-and-so type thing. The question someone sent in was about gifts received from distant relatives.

I thought I kept the magazine, but I guess I threw it away while decluttering, but the gist of the question went something like this:

Dear So-and-so,
My family that lives far away always sends gifts for little Johnny without them being wrapped, or straight from the store they bought it from online, without it being gift wrapped. How do I tell these people to send the gifts with gift wrapping? I don't have the time to wrap these presents. What do they expect me to do, put a plain brown box under the tree?"
Sincerely,
Send the presents wrapped

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WHAT?!?! Are you freakin' kidding me?! How ungrateful!! You should be happy you have people who care enough about your kids to send anything at all! If they spent the time and money to send your kid a present, you can dang-well wrap the thing! Or, go to the dollar store and put it in a huge gift bag. Sheesh!

OH, and the reply she received was just as bad! It went something like this:

Dear Send the Presents Wrapped,
Yes, I know that is so frustrating. Some people, especially those without kids, don't realize how much time it takes to wrap a present. Tell your well-meaning relatives that little Johnny gets a big thrill out of opening the gifts and can you please send it wrapped. Maybe they'll get the hint to spring for gift wrapping next time.

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SERIOUSLY?! If I sent someone a present and was told "Hey, you didn't wrap it", I would probably be offended...and tempted not to send anything at all next time, because my efforts to pick out a gift and send it were obviously not appreciated. I'm not a big "write a letter to the editor"-type person, but that article really got my blood boiling! I just might send in a letter!

WHAT IS THE REASON FOR THE SEASON?!?!

It makes me think of all those "First World Problems" memes floating around the interwebs. This video I saw the other day cracked me up.

"Here's a straw. Now suck it up!" Lol! But, really, HOW many blessing do we have, and HOW often do we complain about things that are utterly ridiculous? I find myself getting into these patterns sometimes, and I have to step back and say to myself, "Hey, you are being ridiculous. So what if you have to deal with "fill-in- seemingly-lame-thing here, like taking the laundry all.the.way.down to the laundry room" or whatever?! At least you HAVE that stuff! Many people in the world don't! 


A friend of mine told me about this video. When she first started the video she had her back turned and didn't see who was saying these things. She was laughing at how silly it was. Then, she turned around and was humbled to see that these "problems" were being read by sweet people who go without the things we take for granted every day. 

It really makes you stop and think, especially during this season when we are being bombarded with advertising. We are distracted left and right from the TRUE meaning of Christmas and the reason we celebrate. 
What's more important...that we have the latest gadget, or that our Savior was born? 
Food for thought, my friends. Food for thought.