Nuthin' says Merry Christmas like wrapping presents and talking generational trauma! 😉 😆 I probably LOL'd more than I should have during this video. Thanks, as always, for your willingness to share these parts of your story with us, Jen. It's always helpful to hear from others who've experienced family dysfunction.
As my brother always says, you can't have dysfunction without the fun! Seriously humor is a great coping mechanism and how we get through so happy to bring it all!! Thanks, Jill. Hope your day is good.
i believe this is my first time leaving a comment but i’ve watched nearly all your videos! i’m a big big fan. thanks for everything you do to bring us a smile. you really are “joyful living.” i feel joyful when i watch your videos. helps me feel like a friend is right here with me. you’ve been carried all over my house on an ipad haha - but actually haha! all this to say, i took your tips and wrapped my presents today. love how you create bows like von maur. i never knew how they did that. i’m watching muppet christmas carol now - and rented emmett otter for tomorrow. while watching this, it struck me, i should tell you the positive influence you have in my life. it seems sappy, but with all my heart and a tear in eye - i’m just so grateful when you have a new video. it’s the gift that keeps on giving. happy holidays to you and your family (all the dogs included). i’m lovinggggg this muppets special. we need more random fun in movies like this. helps bring out the joy. thank you.
For my mom with dementia I just use the gift bag with no paper as she forgets what she is doing when she starts taking the paper out or she gets distracted. It has made things easier for her.
I love this low key kind of wild, generational trauma and xmas wrapping 🙌🙌 like the nicest (and productive) way to chat about difficult stuff we all deal with :)
I once volunteered for a friend's Mom to wrap her gifts one year. I was there for almost 12 hours. She kept pulling gifts she had stashed all around her house. I hadn't planned on staying that long, but she was the sweetest lady and did so much for others so it was nice to help her out!
I, too, would use boxes that had a label where I had NOT bought the gift. I used to write on the box "Your gift is not from" right above the name on the box. This became a fun family joke that we still remember years later!
I always look forward to your gift wrapping video every year! I am wrapping along with you. My mom is a great wrapper, but my grandmother, of very blessed memory, used to put each gift in a brown paper grocery bag and staple it shut 😂 She was a delight, and I truly miss that. Now that I am a parent myself, I respect that decision even more.
I do all the gift shopping in our house. For 44 years now. Love your gift wrapping techniques - same as mine. When I was in college, I worked during summer and school breaks at Saks Fifth Avenue on Long Island (NY) in the Small Leather Goods and Louis Vuitton Dept. Back then (the early 70's), sales people had to wrap all gifts and I was really good at it. Still am! BTW, I was one of those gifted kids (went to college - Emory - at 16) and now definitely ADHD although not formally diagnosed.
Jen, this was such a delightful video for what has become a hard time of year. You remind me so much of my aunt, and I would love to wrap presents over wine with you! Hoping you have a great holiday season ❤🎄✨
Famiy dynamics can be very difficult, especially during the holidays! Wrapping paper is something I refuse to skimp on. I'm loving these daily vlogs! I will miss you while you're visiting your mom.
Jen…can I say that I just adore you! This has been an incredibly difficult month for me and my family, but your vlogs have really brought me joy. When you were saying red or green, red or green for the ribbon…I kept shouting red at the screen as if you could hear me. 😂😂 Thank you for bringing your joyful, playful, sharp witted personality to all of us! You and the content you share is truly a gift. ❤️
Ice started writing the tag BEFORE I start wrapping so in case I zone out or get distracted I won’t have to unwrap the gift. I do like the idea of just writing on the paper -good for Kraft paper wrapping. Thanks for the video today-very relaxing!
I work from home and do auditing for my job. I laughed when you said to mute you. I honestly listen to you chat and don’t always watch! I need someone that just chats since I work alone. ❤
Yes. I love wrapping presents too. And of course I watched Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas after watching your video. One of my ABSOLUTE favorites from my childhood. GenX here too.
This video brought me joy! I love your sense of humor! You made those relatively painful topics about The Great Depression and holiday burnout seemingly painless, mainly because you approached them so casually and unexpectedly. And, I always suspected that you were gifted. I'm going to watch The Muppets' Christmas Carol tonight. Taking a break from holiday prepping. Thanks for sharing!
I feel like these are things that affect all of us in one way or another so why not talk about them that way? Thank you for your encouragement , always,
I shared with my hairdresser that I canceled my kids on our Disney cruise and my husband and I went without them. That was 10 years ago. Still, every time I go in, she tells everyone there “this is the one who went on the Disney cruise without her kids bc they were so bad!” In my defense, they had been on a DCL cruise before and have been since, so it wasn’t THAT traumatic for them. And they had been REALLY bad!!
You convinced me! I just ordered a proper weighted tape dispenser. (And scotch brand tape. I think that’s one item where off brands are usually not great.)
Thank you for sharing and bringing us joy. The way you talk about your mom trying to make Christmas perfect immediately makes me think of the movie Bad Moms Christmas.
Love your channel so much Jen, I also have a complicated relationship with my mum, she’s currently unwell in hospital and it’s difficult to feel anything “normal” due to childhood trauma between us. I am her main carer and organise her entire life now. Your daily Christmas vlogs have been a little ray of sunshine. Thankyou so much, your wonderful x
Sarah, hang in there. It's unimaginably hard under the best of circumstances (even without a complicated relationship) and I feel this same thing very much.
@@JoyfulLivingwithJenLefforge I’m currently watching through your Swedish death cleaning videos…. Loving this concept and loving your take on it all, the universe is showing me just what I need when I need it ❤️
Good wrapping paper and a tape dispenser is vital….saves so much time and your sanity! Been waiting for this all day and then it came up just as hubby came home so I had to wait…5hours! I love gift tag’s especially the ones you have to thread the ribbon through….put a good film on and thread the tags…. I do all the shopping hubby used to get the kids ( our kids even though there married now) He gets everyone selection boxes…you know the cadburys ones….. My elementary teacher really scolded me in front the whole class because she didn’t like my cutting..it scared me for years…but do you know what Jen…I don’t give a hoot now…😂 I couldn’t wait for the advent calendar opening.. I’m happier now I’ve finally done some Christmas shopping..👍🇬🇧
"Gifted but can't cut a straight line to save her life" feels like a personal attack 😂😂😂 Love the video. When you talked about your mom having the nervous breakdown- so relatable. Even now that my siblings and I are all in our 30s and 40s, the holidays bring out a strange side of my parents 👀 Also, I hope this is taken with the spirit it's meant with- you have fun aunt energy.
Since my kid goes crazy at the site of presents, I pick one wrapping paper for each person, then on Christmas Day each person knows which ones are theirs. Love your vlogs. They are so informative and enjoyable that I don’t even realize a half hour has passed.
There was just something so soothing watching you wrap. I am not the greatest wrapper, and did all my presents the other day, but I'm going to add the ribbons just like you did. Kinda funny story related to dementia: my very good friend's mother has dementia and lives with her. My friend gives her gifts that she's given to her before and her mom LOVES every gift. She doesn't remember, so they seem like new gifts to her. I hope that doesn't seem terrible...but her mom needs nothing, and gets great joy out of opening the gifts!
I think that's brilliant! We are having an issue with mom wanting new clothes all the time and then wearing the same outfit every day - maybe we should just take her existing outfit and buy her duplicates and wrap them up. Seriously going to run this by my sister in law.
@@JoyfulLivingwithJenLefforgethat is exactly what my friend's mom was doing. It has worked really well for her level of dementia as she thinks the clothes are brand new!
I literally created a new account this morning since I was locked out of my old one just for this video after seeing your Instagram story. This was a little all over the place but I absolutely love it and it's totally me! On another note this year was my 1st year using double sided tape since I ran out of scotch tape, and you're right it's so much easier and makes the gift look great.
“You own everything that happened to you. Tell your stories. If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should have behaved better.” - Anne Lamont (if you don’t want your kids to tell stories about you throwing their gifts at them, don’t throw said gifts 😂)
Hmmm… kinda disagree. Deal with your stuff privately, in therapy, or with close confidential friends. Let’s all try to do “the Loving thing” in all our relationships and interactions with all people. I’m sure none of us would want our weakest moments broadcast to an audience of uninvolved strangers. Also, that person is not given an opportunity to express or explain their POV. Kindness, care, and respect are so rare these days. Let it begin with each of us, 🙋🏼♀️. Hugs y’all!
My husband does our friends, but I have my input. I also can't cut in a straight line either. I hate digging out the wrapping stuff, so I prefer gift bags.
My brother lives 12 hours away, so every time we see each other for holidays we accidentally end up trauma-dumping after the family functions because we HAVE to debrief on how it went. One thing leads to another when it comes to unpacking things said by our relatives that are obsessed with politics when we were just trying to enjoy a meal or watch Harry Potter in the living room, it almost always ends up with going on a tangent about our childhoods and why we are the way we are. 😅 and our mom was not diagnosed with BPD until she was 60, her mother was born in the 30’s and was 1 of 8 children, so it was a complicated childhood for sure. 😅 Alas, therapy, modern medicine, and boundaries are SO important!
Enjoyed your wrapping. I have a bit of a different technique for the ends of the box. Just folding in a different way as my mom taught me. I did enjoy your economic use of tape. My family thinks I use too much. 😮
I actually just wrapped the box with my dad’s ashes in it. My dental hygienist told me how her family wrapped her dad like he was a gift for each holiday and I was like omg my dad loved a good gift bag.
Yes! We did watch Emmett Otter Jug Band Christmas!!! We couldn’t find it on any of our streaming services so we bought it for $5 Canadian!🇨🇦 such a sweet movie! This will go into our annual Christmas movie circulation🎄 thanks Jen❤️💚
I use one paper per person so it's easy to see who has what, however my husband never, never does it correctly so it's a free for all each year. He also doesn't read the deliveries with care and last year gifted one of his grandsons with a very expensive gift that I'd bought for our son. Gracious. It's a good thing my husband's cute 😅
You're talking directly to Jensey @22:18 aren't you? She was so thankful for your direct to camera talk and I think you might've single-handedly improve our season by 83%. :)
Just today I was talking to my daughter about gifts and said “when I wrap the gifts… or when I realize I ran out of time and make you wrap the gifts…” 😂 I always have the best intentions but I’m getting realistic about what can happen. And either way it will be OK
I’m glad I’m not the only one that has been known to sharpie right on the gift paper! But I don’t wrap stocking stuffers because they’re from Santa (everything else is from mom & dad) and elves don’t wrap gifts at my house.
Jen, I just noticed you are wearing your bracelet ❤️ I just made 90 more for my Fantasy cruise! Changed them up into rainbow themed Mickey friendship bracelets :) my fingers are tired! Lol miss you!
I really enjoy your videos. If people say their childhood was perfect they lie. That’s what I always thought. I just joined your Patreon Catherine Godfrey 😊❤😊 A good therapy session ❤
I am wrapping along with you. I give everything I wrap a number and I record this. This has saved me countless times. I wrap every stocking item; I love stockings. I do ALL he shopping and I shop with my husband for my gift…he means well but he is challenged in this area.
The year my son went from wanting toys to video games, so his "pile" looked much smaller than previous years, I wrapped all his presents to look like cats. The heads were small balloons. Do you have any idea how hard it is to wrap an underinflated balloon? But he loved it so it was worth the effort.
So fun to watch you wrap! We used to play Christmas Carols all during, back in the day. Suggestion: If all the boxes are the same size, you can measure out the ribbon the same for each box and have less waste of ribbon since you trim it down. Of course it looks like you have plenty there. Just a thought, not a criticism.
So pleasant again, I am so looking forward to your videos every day. Will miss them, when they’re gone after Xmas. Anyway,it is no big deal but for you an inconvenience when you cannot cut in a straight line. I know because I am the same way. I was tested for whatever reason in my early 20s. I already knew I was gifted but it was almost funny. I could write down over 60 words that start with the letter s in 1 minute, but I was not able to cut in a straight line, draw a straight line, or bend a wire into a circle. I am not good at math, but I am absolutely fluent ( conversation, reading, writing , business) in 2 languages, somewhat fluent in a third, and I can understand and get around in 2 others. I think I would take not being able to cut in a straight line any day, and as we can see in your videos, you have many others talents that make up for that. By the way, my Mom had a real bad nervous breakdown when I was 9years old and it was no fun. So I also know how that feels, although I believe my Mom’s was worse, she ended up in mental rehab for six weeks.. And I have never 100% recovered from that incident and the aftermath. But that experience made me the best Mom to my boys, because under no circumstances did I want them to experience what I had gone through with my Mom. Things were better when she got older, but they were never perfect, starting with the fact that she was very jealous of my good relationship with my boys. Sorry for writing so much, but I thought that my story would be interesting to you based on what what you were talking about in your video. Have a great day!
Mothers being jealous of their children and who their children love is a bizarre yet very common thing, I’m coming to learn. It sounds like you had a tough road of it - I’m glad your mom got help! I sincerely wish my mom had sought professional help as I think it would have changed so much for all of us. But we are here now and as I do my own work (with a therapist) I’m grateful for the resources I have. Not easy, any of it. Thanking for trusting me and the others reading with your story!!
I hate gift wrapping. I have gone from wrapping to gift bags with tissue paper to reusable Christmas shopping bags. I have name tags that attach with tiny clothes bins. Glad some people enjoy wrapping.
I’m getting to use to seeing you every day, it’s going to be hard when your normal upload schedule starts happening 😢 I’ll be having Jen withdrawals. On another note my best friends name is also a Jen so I guess it’s safe to say I have two best friends named Jen 😊
You gave me aspirations to make my presents look pretty and get away from gift bags. This comes to mind every time I think of family dysfunction th-cam.com/video/ekofeM6Pedg/w-d-xo.html
Nuthin' says Merry Christmas like wrapping presents and talking generational trauma! 😉 😆 I probably LOL'd more than I should have during this video. Thanks, as always, for your willingness to share these parts of your story with us, Jen. It's always helpful to hear from others who've experienced family dysfunction.
As my brother always says, you can't have dysfunction without the fun! Seriously humor is a great coping mechanism and how we get through so happy to bring it all!! Thanks, Jill. Hope your day is good.
i believe this is my first time leaving a comment but i’ve watched nearly all your videos! i’m a big big fan. thanks for everything you do to bring us a smile. you really are “joyful living.” i feel joyful when i watch your videos. helps me feel like a friend is right here with me. you’ve been carried all over my house on an ipad haha - but actually haha! all this to say, i took your tips and wrapped my presents today. love how you create bows like von maur. i never knew how they did that. i’m watching muppet christmas carol now - and rented emmett otter for tomorrow. while watching this, it struck me, i should tell you the positive influence you have in my life. it seems sappy, but with all my heart and a tear in eye - i’m just so grateful when you have a new video. it’s the gift that keeps on giving. happy holidays to you and your family (all the dogs included). i’m lovinggggg this muppets special. we need more random fun in movies like this. helps bring out the joy. thank you.
For my mom with dementia I just use the gift bag with no paper as she forgets what she is doing when she starts taking the paper out or she gets distracted. It has made things easier for her.
(Jane) "That is a January problem" is going to get used here, so thank you!! 🤣
Yeah it’s a keeper
I love this low key kind of wild, generational trauma and xmas wrapping 🙌🙌 like the nicest (and productive) way to chat about difficult stuff we all deal with :)
Such a great description!🤣🤣🤣
I once volunteered for a friend's Mom to wrap her gifts one year. I was there for almost 12 hours. She kept pulling gifts she had stashed all around her house. I hadn't planned on staying that long, but she was the sweetest lady and did so much for others so it was nice to help her out!
I, too, would use boxes that had a label where I had NOT bought the gift. I used to write on the box "Your gift is not from" right above the name on the box. This became a fun family joke that we still remember years later!
I always look forward to your gift wrapping video every year! I am wrapping along with you. My mom is a great wrapper, but my grandmother, of very blessed memory, used to put each gift in a brown paper grocery bag and staple it shut 😂 She was a delight, and I truly miss that. Now that I am a parent myself, I respect that decision even more.
I have heard of the brown paper bag technique!🤣🥰
I do all the gift shopping in our house. For 44 years now. Love your gift wrapping techniques - same as mine. When I was in college, I worked during summer and school breaks at Saks Fifth Avenue on Long Island (NY) in the Small Leather Goods and Louis Vuitton Dept. Back then (the early 70's), sales people had to wrap all gifts and I was really good at it. Still am! BTW, I was one of those gifted kids (went to college - Emory - at 16) and now definitely ADHD although not formally diagnosed.
This has been one of my favorite videos of yours. Thank you for being so real. ❤
Jen, this was such a delightful video for what has become a hard time of year. You remind me so much of my aunt, and I would love to wrap presents over wine with you! Hoping you have a great holiday season ❤🎄✨
Famiy dynamics can be very difficult, especially during the holidays!
Wrapping paper is something I refuse to skimp on.
I'm loving these daily vlogs! I will miss you while you're visiting your mom.
It should only be four days? And then we will get back at it to finish out the season!
I got my kitchen super organized and cleaned up while I watched this THANKSSS!
Well that's fantastic! Great job, Andrew!
Jen…can I say that I just adore you! This has been an incredibly difficult month for me and my family, but your vlogs have really brought me joy. When you were saying red or green, red or green for the ribbon…I kept shouting red at the screen as if you could hear me. 😂😂 Thank you for bringing your joyful, playful, sharp witted personality to all of us! You and the content you share is truly a gift. ❤️
Ice started writing the tag BEFORE I start wrapping so in case I zone out or get distracted I won’t have to unwrap the gift. I do like the idea of just writing on the paper -good for Kraft paper wrapping. Thanks for the video today-very relaxing!
Great tip!
I am catching up on your videos this weekend and am totally wrapping along with you haha.
I work from home and do auditing for my job. I laughed when you said to mute you. I honestly listen to you chat and don’t always watch! I need someone that just chats since I work alone. ❤
Same! ❤
I use TH-cam video this way, too!
Me, too! I ‘watch’ TH-cam while I do housework, and I need chatting because I am not ‘watching’ all the time.
Been wrapping and writing some cards whilst watching!
Thank you for vlogmas Jen, it’s been so comforting and gentle and wholesome 🎄❤️
Oh what a kind comment! Thank you!
Yes. I love wrapping presents too. And of course I watched Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas after watching your video. One of my ABSOLUTE favorites from my childhood. GenX here too.
This video brought me joy! I love your sense of humor! You made those relatively painful topics about The Great Depression and holiday burnout seemingly painless, mainly because you approached them so casually and unexpectedly. And, I always suspected that you were gifted. I'm going to watch The Muppets' Christmas Carol tonight. Taking a break from holiday prepping. Thanks for sharing!
I feel like these are things that affect all of us in one way or another so why not talk about them that way? Thank you for your encouragement , always,
@@JoyfulLivingwithJenLefforge ❤❤
It was a perfect video to wrap with you! Thank you for helping me pass the time! Merry Christmas!
I am always so happy to see your videos pop up! My son is 8, so wrapping gifts is a very sneaky endeavor 🤣
I remember those days!
I shared with my hairdresser that I canceled my kids on our Disney cruise and my husband and I went without them. That was 10 years ago. Still, every time I go in, she tells everyone there “this is the one who went on the Disney cruise without her kids bc they were so bad!” In my defense, they had been on a DCL cruise before and have been since, so it wasn’t THAT traumatic for them. And they had been REALLY bad!!
You convinced me! I just ordered a proper weighted tape dispenser. (And scotch brand tape. I think that’s one item where off brands are usually not great.)
GAME CHANGER
Thank you for sharing and bringing us joy. The way you talk about your mom trying to make Christmas perfect immediately makes me think of the movie Bad Moms Christmas.
Love your channel so much Jen, I also have a complicated relationship with my mum, she’s currently unwell in hospital and it’s difficult to feel anything “normal” due to childhood trauma between us. I am her main carer and organise her entire life now. Your daily Christmas vlogs have been a little ray of sunshine. Thankyou so much, your wonderful x
Sarah, hang in there. It's unimaginably hard under the best of circumstances (even without a complicated relationship) and I feel this same thing very much.
@@JoyfulLivingwithJenLefforge I’m currently watching through your Swedish death cleaning videos…. Loving this concept and loving your take on it all, the universe is showing me just what I need when I need it ❤️
Good wrapping paper and a tape dispenser is vital….saves so much time and your sanity!
Been waiting for this all day and then it came up just as hubby came home so I had to wait…5hours!
I love gift tag’s especially the ones you have to thread the ribbon through….put a good film on and thread the tags….
I do all the shopping hubby used to get the kids ( our kids even though there married now) He gets everyone selection boxes…you know the cadburys ones…..
My elementary teacher really scolded me in front the whole class because she didn’t like my cutting..it scared me for years…but do you know what Jen…I don’t give a hoot now…😂
I couldn’t wait for the advent calendar opening..
I’m happier now I’ve finally done some Christmas shopping..👍🇬🇧
YES the tape dispenser is KEY! I'm glad you got to watch it!!!
You cracked me up on this gift wrapping video!! It was soo fun!!🎁🎄and the Advent calendar opening is the best!!
I LOVE Container Store wrapping paper. It's so good.
I'm sad I didn't make it in there this year BUT as we know I am on a journey to use less and we really had plenty. Next year for sure!
Thanks for wrapping presents with me.
Happy to help!
Not wrapping along but making Pizzelle for my coworkers Christmas present! Excellent baking buddy
Oh hurray!!!
Yes, that was suspenseful and red was the right answer.
People follow me for the DRAMATIC TENSION 🤣
Love your tips on wrapping. And good PSA about stressing too much trying to provide a perfect Christmas
"Gifted but can't cut a straight line to save her life" feels like a personal attack 😂😂😂
Love the video. When you talked about your mom having the nervous breakdown- so relatable. Even now that my siblings and I are all in our 30s and 40s, the holidays bring out a strange side of my parents 👀
Also, I hope this is taken with the spirit it's meant with- you have fun aunt energy.
I 100% take the fun aunt energy as a HUGE compliment! Thank you!
Since my kid goes crazy at the site of presents, I pick one wrapping paper for each person, then on Christmas Day each person knows which ones are theirs. Love your vlogs. They are so informative and enjoyable that I don’t even realize a half hour has passed.
Could you use the glitter ribbon to decorate your mailbox next year?
There was just something so soothing watching you wrap. I am not the greatest wrapper, and did all my presents the other day, but I'm going to add the ribbons just like you did.
Kinda funny story related to dementia: my very good friend's mother has dementia and lives with her. My friend gives her gifts that she's given to her before and her mom LOVES every gift. She doesn't remember, so they seem like new gifts to her. I hope that doesn't seem terrible...but her mom needs nothing, and gets great joy out of opening the gifts!
I think that's brilliant! We are having an issue with mom wanting new clothes all the time and then wearing the same outfit every day - maybe we should just take her existing outfit and buy her duplicates and wrap them up. Seriously going to run this by my sister in law.
@@JoyfulLivingwithJenLefforgethat is exactly what my friend's mom was doing. It has worked really well for her level of dementia as she thinks the clothes are brand new!
I always write the name tag first so that I won’t forget who the gift is for. Also, this was such a meaningful chat on dysfunction. ✅
Thank you for motivating me to get my wrapping done as I decided to wrap right along with you.😁❤💚❤
Oh hurray!! Love to read that!
I love gift wrapping things nicely too Jen. I thoroughly enjoyed watching you wrap today, I found it very satisfying. Xx🎄🎄
Loving your Vlogmas ❤ I laugh out loud 😂
I love to hear it!
I literally created a new account this morning since I was locked out of my old one just for this video after seeing your Instagram story. This was a little all over the place but I absolutely love it and it's totally me! On another note this year was my 1st year using double sided tape since I ran out of scotch tape, and you're right it's so much easier and makes the gift look great.
Oh I’m honored!! And yes double sided tape is DEFINITELY the way to go.
“You own everything that happened to you. Tell your stories. If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should have behaved better.” - Anne Lamont (if you don’t want your kids to tell stories about you throwing their gifts at them, don’t throw said gifts 😂)
Love Anne Lamont so much and remember that passage fondly.
Hmmm… kinda disagree. Deal with your stuff privately, in therapy, or with close confidential friends. Let’s all try to do “the Loving thing” in all our relationships and interactions with all people. I’m sure none of us would want our weakest moments broadcast to an audience of uninvolved strangers. Also, that person is not given an opportunity to express or explain their POV. Kindness, care, and respect are so rare these days. Let it begin with each of us, 🙋🏼♀️. Hugs y’all!
My husband does our friends, but I have my input. I also can't cut in a straight line either. I hate digging out the wrapping stuff, so I prefer gift bags.
I wrapped while watching the baking vlog. This one I watched while on the treadmill.
LOVE THAT
My brother lives 12 hours away, so every time we see each other for holidays we accidentally end up trauma-dumping after the family functions because we HAVE to debrief on how it went. One thing leads to another when it comes to unpacking things said by our relatives that are obsessed with politics when we were just trying to enjoy a meal or watch Harry Potter in the living room, it almost always ends up with going on a tangent about our childhoods and why we are the way we are. 😅 and our mom was not diagnosed with BPD until she was 60, her mother was born in the 30’s and was 1 of 8 children, so it was a complicated childhood for sure. 😅 Alas, therapy, modern medicine, and boundaries are SO important!
It’s all just so relatable!!
Thank you so much for the wrapping tutorial, I’m hopeless at it 😂🙏🌸
I love Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas!! It was a favorite of mine when I was a child
Enjoyed your wrapping. I have a bit of a different technique for the ends of the box. Just folding in a different way as my mom taught me. I did enjoy your economic use of tape. My family thinks I use too much. 😮
My mom taught me that way too but I learned the way I did this at the container store and the good news is both work!!
I actually just wrapped the box with my dad’s ashes in it. My dental hygienist told me how her family wrapped her dad like he was a gift for each holiday and I was like omg my dad loved a good gift bag.
It was a very suspenseful, it cut to commercial just as you said red or green! 😂
That’s hilarious.😆
I find regular scotch tape offensive when wrapping, too. When I accidentally buy magic instead of transparent, I cringe. 😂
Yes! We did watch Emmett Otter Jug Band Christmas!!! We couldn’t find it on any of our streaming services so we bought it for $5 Canadian!🇨🇦 such a sweet movie! This will go into our annual Christmas movie circulation🎄 thanks Jen❤️💚
It’s soooo special isn’t it? I’m so glad you liked it!
I LOVE Beekman vitamin c! They have a jumbo one too! They also have great wipes!
They do warehouse sale each year that are Great too!
Yeah when I run out of the Elemis one I’m trying it!!
Enjoyed today’s chatty vlog 🎉. It’s a present wrapping day for me too.
I use one paper per person so it's easy to see who has what, however my husband never, never does it correctly so it's a free for all each year.
He also doesn't read the deliveries with care and last year gifted one of his grandsons with a very expensive gift that I'd bought for our son.
Gracious. It's a good thing my husband's cute 😅
🤣🤣🤣
You're talking directly to Jensey @22:18 aren't you? She was so thankful for your direct to camera talk and I think you might've single-handedly improve our season by 83%. :)
Happy to be of service!😂☺
Just today I was talking to my daughter about gifts and said “when I wrap the gifts… or when I realize I ran out of time and make you wrap the gifts…” 😂 I always have the best intentions but I’m getting realistic about what can happen. And either way it will be OK
I’m glad I’m not the only one that has been known to sharpie right on the gift paper! But I don’t wrap stocking stuffers because they’re from Santa (everything else is from mom & dad) and elves don’t wrap gifts at my house.
FAIR
Hahaha! Just used the last little bit of a Costco roll I think I bought 6 years ago. But it was 2 sided so it took twice as long to get sick of it.
The worst. . . .Once bitten twice shy!
Love this! Thank you for sharing!
Jen, I just noticed you are wearing your bracelet ❤️ I just made 90 more for my Fantasy cruise! Changed them up into rainbow themed Mickey friendship bracelets :) my fingers are tired! Lol miss you!
I love it! Thank you again!
@@JoyfulLivingwithJenLefforge you are so sweet!
I really enjoy your videos. If people say their childhood was perfect they lie. That’s what I always thought. I just joined your Patreon Catherine Godfrey 😊❤😊 A good therapy session ❤
Welcome, Catherine!!!!
I am wrapping along with you. I give everything I wrap a number and I record this. This has saved me countless times. I wrap every stocking item; I love stockings. I do ALL he shopping and I shop with my husband for my gift…he means well but he is challenged in this area.
That is a genius idea and I am totally stealing it. 😂
Another fun video.
100% speed wrapping gifts before my in-laws arrive tomorrow. My wrapping station is right in the middle of our guest space.
Been there done that! Glad I could keep you company!
The year my son went from wanting toys to video games, so his "pile" looked much smaller than previous years, I wrapped all his presents to look like cats. The heads were small balloons. Do you have any idea how hard it is to wrap an underinflated balloon? But he loved it so it was worth the effort.
So fun to watch you wrap! We used to play Christmas Carols all during, back in the day. Suggestion: If all the boxes are the same size, you can measure out the ribbon the same for each box and have less waste of ribbon since you trim it down. Of course it looks like you have plenty there. Just a thought, not a criticism.
Please remind folks, to seek help for mental health. Sometimes we can’t shut it down. Thank you for creating great opportunities for open discussion.!
yes! some family members take xmas too seriously and literally makes it miserable for the rest of us
How do you keep your dogs from destroying your bows? Or is it just not an issue? My cat will leave teeth marks in my gifts. 😺
They actually leave presents alone but that’s always subject to change so we don’t put anything around the big repairs. Because I don’t trust them!🤣🥰
I love my Kipling umbrella
You speak the truth on the Costco paper. I have the same roll still. It’s about 20 years old. Ha ha ha
Yeah it’s a mistake we all make once 🤣
So pleasant again, I am so looking forward to your videos every day. Will miss them, when they’re gone after Xmas. Anyway,it is no big deal but for you an inconvenience when you cannot cut in a straight line. I know because I am the same way. I was tested for whatever reason in my early 20s. I already knew I was gifted but it was almost funny. I could write down over 60 words that start with the letter s in 1 minute, but I was not able to cut in a straight line, draw a straight line, or bend a wire into a circle. I am not good at math, but I am absolutely fluent ( conversation, reading, writing , business) in 2 languages, somewhat fluent in a third, and I can understand and get around in 2 others. I think I would take not being able to cut in a straight line any day, and as we can see in your videos, you have many others talents that make up for that.
By the way, my Mom had a real bad nervous breakdown when I was 9years old and it was no fun. So I also know how that feels, although I believe my Mom’s was worse, she ended up in mental rehab for six weeks.. And I have never 100% recovered from that incident and the aftermath. But that experience made me the best Mom to my boys, because under no circumstances did I want them to experience what I had gone through with my Mom. Things were better when she got older, but they were never perfect, starting with the fact that she was very jealous of my good relationship with my boys.
Sorry for writing so much, but I thought that my story would be interesting to you based on what what you were talking about in your video.
Have a great day!
Mothers being jealous of their children and who their children love is a bizarre yet very common thing, I’m coming to learn. It sounds like you had a tough road of it - I’m glad your mom got help! I sincerely wish my mom had sought professional help as I think it would have changed so much for all of us. But we are here now and as I do my own work (with a therapist) I’m grateful for the resources I have. Not easy, any of it. Thanking for trusting me and the others reading with your story!!
I hate gift wrapping. I have gone from wrapping to gift bags with tissue paper to reusable Christmas shopping bags. I have name tags that attach with tiny clothes bins. Glad some people enjoy wrapping.
Loving Vlogmas! Question have you ever done group travel trips? Opinion? Invited on one next year and I am hesitant as I think it would be stressful.
I totally get the holiday family trauma.... its crazy on level 100. Grew up with it, and just endured another round of fits. 😢 not fun.
I’m getting to use to seeing you every day, it’s going to be hard when your normal upload schedule starts happening 😢 I’ll be having Jen withdrawals. On another note my best friends name is also a Jen so I guess it’s safe to say I have two best friends named Jen 😊
Do orphans in novels get a lot of wrapped gifts? ❤😇
The way Dickens would write? Quite possible. Would make for a great final scene.
It’s me…hi! In the gifted program in school & diagnosed with ADHD at 30 🙃🙃🙃
I’m saying….
I’m doing my nails while you talk to me. Not wrapping. 😊
LOVELY. You must have beautiful nails to go with the new ship.
Stop using bows and/or ribbon. Very freeing, trust me😊🎄😊
You gave me aspirations to make my presents look pretty and get away from gift bags. This comes to mind every time I think of family dysfunction th-cam.com/video/ekofeM6Pedg/w-d-xo.html