Gift-Giving and Mother Link

I love Christmas. I love everything about it. I do love getting gifts and giving them but at the same time gift giving can be such a negative experience. If I know the perfect gift for a loved one that I know he or she will just love then it's a good experience. I want to give that gift to that person. But, the problem comes, when I do not know what to get for someone. It's Christmas and I have to get something and I want to get something that's perfect but I end up looking at completely random items and ideas and going yeah maybe he'd like that? Why is gift giving such a necessity this time of year? I mean sure for the kids it should be but for adults? Why can't we just give if we feel like it and if we have no good ideas not give? Last year I got Josh a gift I thought he'd love but I ordered it online and when it arrived it turned out to be so cheaply made and awful we ended up sending it back. This year I still haven't decided what to get him and the stress is killing me. I want to get him that perfect gift that he will love but what is it? Why can't we simply do the Christmas traditions like decorating the tree together and looking at lights and listening to Christmas music while drinking cocoa and eating cookies? Being together as a family should be more important than finding the perfect present. I like what my parents tried to do in later years and think maybe we will stick to that. Get one present he wants and one present he needs. So, for example, for Justace we could get him a toy and some PJs that actually fit.

Also, I wanted to share something I read online. I read an article, some new research, that shows that sometimes the cells from a baby will travel to a mother's brain while in utero and vice versa. This literally means that a mother has a part of her child in her and the child can have a part of his or her mother inside him or her. I absolutely love this bit of research. You always hear people say I'm in your heart, even after death you carry your loved one with you inside but this literally proves it. I think perhaps it might even help explain why, as mothers, we feel such a strong connection to our children. Because we literally have part of them inside of us and are linked biologically to them even before birth. For example, when I hear Justace cry it tears my heart up. It kills me. When I hear another baby cry my emotions stay in check and I remain mostly calm. If I'm babysitting for someone else and their baby cries the only real emotions I feel for that child is oh no why is he crying? I need to figure out what is wrong and fix it. Whereas if it's my own child I actually feel his pain inside of me and it's harder to stay calm and focused or to ignore it if I know nothing is really wrong.