Our youngest daughter can be stubborn about receiving gifts, and I told her so.
"Where do you think I get it from?" she asked.
"I'm not stubborn when it comes to receiving gifts, " I said. "I used to be, but not now. "
She has a birthday coming up and we want to get her some new cowboy boots.
Cowboy boots aren't cheap, but we want to do something special and get her something she could use and enjoy for years to come.
But my daughter is pushing back, saying she's happy with her current boots-which are old and worn-out.
I push back, she pushes back, and we become locked in a mother daughter match over stubbornness and how much is too much to spend on a special gif.
She thinks my husband and 1 do too much for her. I used to think the same thing about my parents-my parents weren't rich, but they were generous.
They kept saying they enjoyed giving me gifts, but all I could think about was how much money they were wasting on me.
Years ago. I mentioned to a friend that I thought my mother overdid it when it came to buying gifts for her children.
My friend, closer to my mothers age than mine, looked at me and said, "who are you to tell your mother what she can do?"
I wanted to argue with her, but I didn't. I didn't fully understand it then but I understand it now-now that I'm a grandmother myself.
The longer you live, the more you see how often things go wrong.
Marriages fail, friendships break down, family members become estranged, and accidents and illnesses cut lives short.
There is a brokenness that fills many of our lives. So, when you see life going well, families working hard and growing strong, you want to celebrate.
It took a lot of time for me to understand that giving is an expression of joy, as much as it is an expression of love. I understand where my daughter is coming from, but I also understand where my parents were coming from -a place of pure and simple joy celebrating those moments when life goes well.
