"This is my box...This is my box..." - Amahl and the Night Visitors

It's a sad and somewhat telling tale that one can go into a store of most any kind before Halloween, and see Christmas merchandise being added to the displays. We exclaim that every year, this seems to happen earlier and earlier, and for parents of young children, it all becomes a form of nightmare because the hype begins and our children are drawn in no matter how hard we might try to forestall the inevitable.

There is an important thing to remember in all of this. Remember that one of the most treasured of gifts is simply...the box. Have you ever watched a child in the presence of a such a glorious thing as a box with a lid, or just flaps that go up and down and fold in on each other? And the imagination spurred by a box large enough to hide in? And if there happens to be wrappping paper around to stuff in said box, all the better. When the child is so overstimulated as to not be able to contain his behavior any longer, what a remarkable gift it is to be able to tuck himself away inside a box with his own creative senses transforming that container into a plane or train or race car or princess room or who knows what. Maybe just a quiet, cozy spot for a nap.

If only we could all just re-discover the wonder of a box, right?
(To understand the title of the post, visit the link below.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAZlS9ZogQE&feature=related