Pip Speaks! Holiday Tip #3 - Wrapping Presents

Hello, everyone - it's me - Pip - again.  I wanted to talk about wrapping presents today.  I don't know about you, but I LOVE to get presents!  Even before they are ever opened, I like to attack the paper, chew on the paper, or try to eat the bow!  My ma says this is not a good thing, and also not good for me, but I really don't understand how that could be the case.  It's just so FUN!

Anyway, I think that it's important to remember that a wrapped present is just something that adds to the mystery of what might be inside.  I don't understand why everyone thinks that presents need to be wrapped like they are more important than what is inside.  My ma likes to wrap presents, but she makes them look nice, and (as far as I know) doesn't try to impress anyone with making them "artistic."   But she said that she knows some people who cause themselves a lot of stress by trying to make every single package an amazing work of art.  I think that is silly.

At our house, we love to help with wrapping presents!  Lots of the time, we help by trying out the gift boxes, and trimming the wrapping paper.  It's also fun to attack the wrapping paper and/or the ribbons.  Lots of people say that if they had pets they would not let them in the same room while they were wrapping presents. I think that is just silly.  For instance, here are some pictures that my ma took last year when we were helping.

 Jetsam takes a look to see what help is needed

I hold down some wrapping paper so it doesn't wrinkle

 Jetsam makes sure everything is wrapped

Dug was helping, but then he got tired (he was just a visitor last Christmas!)

This year, Dug is our brother, and of course we have Milo and he likes to help too!  My ma gets mad at us, but then she'll say, "You know what?  You guys are all good - why get mad when you are just excited about Christmas too?"

I like it when she says that.  :-)

So if you still need to wrap any presents, remember that it's supposed to be fun too.  But it doesn't have to be so perfect that it belongs in an art museum.  Because, after all, it's for Christmas - which should only be fun.

That's all for now - have a fun weekend!

Pip Speaks! Holiday Tip #2 - Christmas Cards

Hello everyone, it's me, Pip, again!  My Ma told me that you liked my earlier post, and read me your comments, and it made me so happy.  Because unlike a lot of other kitties, I'm a talker, and love to have people (or anyone else!) listen to me.

So now I want to talk to you about these:

Christmas cards!  Or, if you don't celebrate Christmas, Holiday cards!  We love getting them at our house, and after we've gotten quite a few, my Ma likes to hang them on our garden door as part of our decorations.

(Us kitties like to bat at them, which is not really something our Ma and Da like, but that's another story.)

Anyway, my Ma was annoyed the other day, because someone told her that she should not be sending out Christmas cards, because it was a waste of paper, and not good for the environment.  She was telling us that a lot of cards nowadays are made of recycled paper, and they can also be recycled, so there is that.  But mostly, she was reminding us that Christmas cards can have a life beyond the one they have on one Christmas when you get them.  Here is how it works at our house.

We always send out Christmas cards to our relatives and friends, and it's marked as being from all of us.  Which I think is nice, because sometimes we get cards from people we know have animals in their families, but the don't sign their names.  I think that is mean.   But that too, is another story.

Anyway, when we take down our decorations after Chrismastime and put them away, my Ma takes the cards and puts them together with a rubber band with the other things.  Then the next year, she pulls them out when she is getting ready to send cards again, to see who sent cards and who will still get cards.***  Then she takes any that are not pictures of people we know, and she separates the front of the card from the inside where people have signed their names.  Any that have writing on the inside of the front of the card just get recycled, but otherwise, she collects the fronts, and sends them to a place called the Seamen's Church Institute of New York and New Jersey for their Christmas at Sea program.  The people who are in charge of that program use the fronts of the Christmas cards as gift tags for the presents they give out.  I think it must be nice to not only get a present like a scarf or something when you weren't expecting it, and then have a pretty gift card on it as well.  My Ma says that it probably makes some people feel extra special on Christmas (and that makes me feel good too, since we usually help her get things apart and ready to send).

So my tip for today is to think before your say to someone else that they shouldn't send out Christmas cards, or that they are doing something bad for the environment.  Because you can see from what I wrote that you can enjoy sending and getting cards and still be recycling them in a way that gives others a smile on Christmas Day.

Everyone at our house smiles a lot on Christmas Day, and all through Christmastime.  But if we couldn't be together, I would like to think that we would have a reason to smile because we knew that somewhere, someone was thinking of us.

My Ma just told me that this post was long enough, but I have two more things to tell you.  One is that there are only EIGHTEEN DAYS left until Christmas Day!!!! and, the second thing is that some people who get cards from us will see my picture on their stamp!

Me dressed up like Santa!

OK, bye until next time.  Love, Pip

***Like so many things our Ma does, she has a "system" for Christmas cards.  She is also the only one who understands it.

Pip Speaks! Holiday Tip #1 - Take Some Time

A note from the blog owner:

Pip has decided that he would like to write some posts during the upcoming holiday season.  It seemed like a good idea to me, so here is his first effort.  Enjoy!

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Hello everyone, it's Pip!  I convinced my Ma to let me post about some things, because I saw the calendar, and - counting today - it's only a little more than a week until Thanksgiving, and then six weeks until Christmas!  I see things on our TV or hear people talking, and I think I have some important helpful tips for everyone.  So my Ma said that I can post them sometimes because maybe people would like knowing them.

So my first tip is:

 RELAX

(Me relaxing)

True, everyone wants to have a nice Thanksgiving and holiday time, and so you want to feel prepared.  But be realistic.  Don't get yourself all worked up because you feel like you have to do the perfect thing.  Thanksgiving is supposed to be a cozy holiday, when you are with your family and friends and relaxing and just enjoying their company.  Is it nice to have a good meal?  Yes.  Should it be the end-all of your holiday existence?  No.  And if you feel overwhelmed, ask other people to bring something, or even go out and buy the "perfect mashed potatoes" or whatever you feel you must have.

Also, Don't. Go. Shopping.  Because first of all, Thanksgiving is a holiday, and you should not be using it as the day to start your Hanukkah/Christmas/Kwanzaa/Mugwump Day shopping.  And people who work in stores have plenty of work coming their way starting the next day, so they deserve a day for their holiday.  My Da has a job in retail, and Thanksgiving is the last chance for him to have a nice, leisurely day before the crazy, busy time that lasts nearly until the end of January.  Also, shopping on Thanksgiving Day is not a relaxing thing to do, besides just being wrong.

I know that my Da and Ma say that their friends feel sorry for them because they have to spend Thanksgiving "alone."  That's crazy!  They're not alone at all - the two of them, plus, me Jetsam, Milo, and Dug have our day together, just like lots of other families.  And it's the best because we just all take time to enjoy being together.  We all get something special to eat, which is wonderful, but the best part is just being all together the whole day.

So remember - you want to relax and enjoy your time off from work, on one of the best holidays of all.  If you don't try to do this, and let everyone else tell you what you should do, what you should cook, etc., you'll end up fighting instead of relaxing.

(Jetsam and I pretend-fighting)