For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon
His shoulder.
And His Name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor
Mighty God
Everlasting Father
Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6

Son Presents Presents

'Mom, I need to get Christmas presents for my friends!', Son exclaimed as soon as he got off the phone. Err.. did I hear correctly? Son isn't particularly fond of buying and giving presents, he finds it a waste of time planning, shopping and wrapping them especially when he is not the one on the receiving end. But I guess the good tidings of Christmas has effected this change.

Keeping my composure, I asked how many and what he intends to get. 'Not sure, maybe 7 or 8, anything's fine', Son answered nonchalantly. Mmm...anything. 'Ok then, let me check my presents stock'. I have a habit of buying things in bulk when I chanced upon good bargains, usually practical, nice looking, adorable stuffs which will undoubtedly qualify as coveted gifts.

I brought out an armful of things and laid them on the table, immensely proud of my choice purchase. A look of horror registered on Son's face. 'No way man, I can't give my friends any of these Mom, they aren't er, er... ' His voice trailed off . He scanned each item warily, picked a few to study at a close range but eventually dropped them back in the pile. He sighed, 'they are not cool mom, not suitable for my friends'. Sensing my disappointment, he continued, 'they are great for Sister's friends, keep for them'. He quickly dashed out not waiting to hear my reasons.

Humph, I stared at the lovely stuffs, admiring them individually. I can't understand why Son think of them unsuitable - bear bag, sequined hand mirror, fluffy handphone pouch, towels ingeniously folded and decorated to resemble cake slices, luminous colored shoe laces, bejeweled coin purse, etc...

I just can't understand..........
                                                                                                                                                                    

In The Wilderness

Son was busy packing for his camp with his youth group, to a place  away from concrete buildings, somewhere right smack in the middle of a forest and devoid of many newfangled contraptions. Not his cup of tea and he hasn't exactly been counting the days till the big day.

I, on the other hand, was secretly exhilarated as I enjoy nature and if the benefit of youth is on my side, qualifying me to go, I'll definitely spend many sleepless nights religiously counting the seconds till camp day! Alas! Son doesn't share the same sense of  kinship for nature as much as I would like him to. However, I guess I shouldn't complain, he wasn't coerced at gunpoint to register, it was done on his own accord. I guess the thought of fun time with friends overshadows the camp venue no matter how unappealing.

Being the ever careful, forever hygienic and evermore fastidious person; packing proves to be challenging for Son. Had I not stepped in, he would have gotten away with 3 baggage for this 4 day 3 night camp. Not that Son is a greenhorn in travelling; he has always packed his own belongings for trips, albeit overpacked most times. He is overly over-zealous and gets carried away with the quantity always. His motto is 'better to be safe than sorry!'. After some haggling he managed to downsize his belongings to 1 baggage + 1 backpack for this camp though with much reluctance. Kudos!