Bubble Wrap

3.5 Years:

“Hey, sweetie can you keep a secret? I’m going to show you the extra-special present we got for ou friend.”
“I’ll keep it a secret!”
“Okay… Here it is…”
“OH MY GOODNESS! YOU GOT HER BUBBLE WRAP!”

Value is very much in the eye of the beholder. I think we all remember the days when we genuinely valued a chocolate bar over a Rolex and didn’t understand the strange system of money and value that our parents used to navigate the world. For some very lucky people, that sense of wonder and intrinsic value never really goes away. Those are the people who would still be perfectly happy about receiving bubble wrap as a gift.

The gift in question was the most financially valuable item I had ever purchased, costing more than ten times what I had spent on any previous gifts. I had spent many months of savings on it and was thrilled about giving it to its intended recipient.

Of course, as soon as I opened the box that contained this treasure, my daughter got excited about the wrong thing: the bubble wrap it was packaged under. I ended up giving the bubble wrap to her, and I think she considered it to be the most wonderful gift I had ever given. The thing inside it? Secondary.