Bob was a young father frantically wrapping presents three days before Christmas when his 6 year old Daughter Katie ran in asking for a box. Hardly glancing up he managed to pull a good sized box from his wrapping pile. “No,” Katie said. “That’s not big enough. I want the biggest box you have.” “Why do you want that box?” “Because it’s a very big surprise.” “O.K.,” Daddy muttered. “I hope this is important.” “Oh…it is,” Katie replied. “But now I need some paper.” Bob reached for the closes roll. “Uh-uh,” Katie insisted. “I need that pretty gold stuff.” “Uh-uh,” Daddy replied. “That ‘pretty-gold-stuff’ cost $15.00 a roll. The only reason we got it was to help the little boy next door with his school fund-raiser.” “I don’t care,” Katie responded. “I want the nicest paper you have for this present. It’s a very special big surprise.” “Ok” Bob replied, “But be careful. Save me some…I need it.” There were still a lot of presents for him to wrap. Katie disappeared into her room for almost three hours…and when she returned to Daddy’s table, she handed him her “biggest-box,” wrapped in gold paper…and wrapped in gold paper…and wrapped in gold paper. “Didn’t save me any, did you?” No…I needed it all,” Katie replied. “It’s for you. Open it now, Daddy. Open it now.” “But, it’s not Christmas for three more days, Katie. Why open it now?” “Because I’m too excited to wait. It’s really special.” Bob tried to gently peel off the expensive paper a corner at a time. Maybe he could salvage a little of it for future use. But it was no use. Katie had used enough scotch tape to repair the hull of the Titanic. Daddy tore away the expensive paper and opened the box. There was nothing in it. “Katie,” her father asked. “Why did you use this big box and all this fancy paper…and then give me a box that’s empty?” “Oh, it’s not empty, Daddy,” Katie replied, “I spent all afternoon blowing kisses into it for you. This box is full of how much I love you.” Remember the time you spend enjoying the gifts of Christmas, is more important than the time you spend wrapping them.