i am thankful challenge...day#10

day#10: i am thankful for giving gifts...

i'm saying...

but for real, i'm the kind of guy who prefers to give than receive.

ok, i'ma stop. lol

i never realized till i was older how much my dad loved christmas. it's like his absolute favorite holiday. as a child you would have thought i was richie rich during christmas because my dad would have an entire room full of toys, trains, bikes, etc..
he couldn't wait til i woke up and went ape shit over my gifts. it wasn't so i'd think he was the greatest dad in the world, because until i declared i knew there was no santa....all my gifts were signed "love santa". he used to stay up all night putting together my toys so i never had to wait to play the next day. this "joy" he had was passed on to me. christmas is now my favorite holiday as well. and if i posted pictures of the view my son wakes up to on christmas...y'all would think i'd had 20 kids. and it's not about the gifts....it's about watching his face light up when he shows me everything santa knew he wanted.

i've loved that feeling since i was little kid. it's always felt better to give than receive. my dad used to take me to the store to pick out a gift for my mom. and no matter what it was, if i chose it he'd buy it. and even if the gift was a piece of junk, my mom would act like it was the best shit in the world. and that made my day. it made me proud to have made her happy. and i do the same with my son now, except his mom has figured it out and has started coaching him on "things mom likes". but even still the smile on his face when his mom receives his gift and starts going ape shit...priceless.

i try to teach him that it's not about the gift itself,  it's about the giving. we give out of love, because we love. cause i'm kanye in the "birthday song" "i'll get a sweater, kiss her on the forehead....and tell her to do better" lol. naw..i don't do ever do that. because it's not about to gifts, it's about the thought & effort put into the gift. some of my favorite gifts received:

• pictures my son has drawn me. 
• one of my girlfriends knew i only liked root beer bottlecaps and bought a whole bunch of boxes and picked out the rootbeer one's for me.
• one of my friends sent some of the most unique ga tech belt buckles..she also sent me a stupid book she won at secret santa that she kept telling me she was sending it to me and i didn't believe her till i got it in the mail...i love the book (and no i haven't read it..) lol
• cards from friends & family...with personal messages
• all of the gag gifts from my friends (we get each other stupid shit like pogo sticks, my little ponies, hair club for men subscriptions, etc..instead of real gifts)
• crazy gadgets from the home shopping network and tj maxx that my mom sees and can not help but buy for me
• my son

i'm thankful for any gift i receive, and i could list a million things because i love them all. but it's the one's like these that i never forget. i may not be able to tell you what i got from christmas when i was ten years old. but i can tell you about seeing my dad go back and forth from the car with gifts in his hand trying to make sure my christmas was amazing. the gifts that last forever...memories.