How (Not) to Hide a Christmas Present

The inspiration for my post today was provided by my cat.

Our curious cat!

The other morning, I awoke to the rustling of a plastic bag.  I got up to investigate and, sure enough, the cat was the cause of the noise.

The afternoon and evening before had been filled with baking, errands, a quick dinner, and my son's school choir concert.  I began to get a headache around dinner time. By the time we got home from the concert I barely managed to write the next day's post and crawl into bed.  Somewhere along the way, the shopping bags with my purchases landed on our bedroom floor - and stayed there.

Waking up to noises made by my cat is nothing new.  For some reason, rather than just meow or come and pounce on me, the cat has figured out that if he causes an object to make noise, it will irritate me enough to get out of bed. Plastic bags are his favorite noise maker!

He just has to know what is inside!

The rustling noise that particular morning? The cat had found his Christmas present! Several bags were on the ground, but he had ripped open the one with his present in it - and he was investigating the package of jingling bells I had bought for him.

This made me laugh - and got me thinking about all the places I have hidden Christmas presents from my family and pets over the years.  I would tell you where they were - but my husband and my kids read my blog, so that would give my secrets away!

We encountered a new problem with keeping gifts hidden this year. Amazon Prime (free shipping!) makes it easy to order gifts on line, with just the click of a mouse.  We didn't think about needing to be able to identify who should open which package though  - and none of us specified the recipient's name on our orders. Instead, the default address had them all addressed to my husband!  This has gotten a little confusing; as packages have arrived, we've had to try to figure out whose was whose! So far, we have guessed well, and no surprises have been ruined.

Our guesses haven't been perfect though.  One day last week, I got an email from Carrie Groneman. She is the blogger whose book was one of the prizes I won in a giveaway contest a few weeks ago.  She was concerned that I had not received the book, as she had not heard from me.

I suddenly realized what may have happened.  Sure enough, one of my family members just assumed it was something that had been ordered for me, and they hid Carrie's package! As soon as located it, I opened the package and emailed Carrie.  I'm looking forward to some free time during the next week, to read her book, A Mother's Shadow.

Thanks Carrie!

Do you have good hiding places for your gifts?

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Note: In the spirit of full disclosure, this post contains affiliate links, for which I may receive compensation if any purchases are made. All opinions expressed, however, are entirely my own.