Do some adults actually think at all?

It is being reported that parcels going into quarantine hotels are being checked. They are being unwrapped apparently - and thoroughly investigated.

Now (a) I can understand if a parcel was coming out of a quarantine hotel that you would want to check it. That is just commonsense.

         (b) I can - just - understand that there may be some concerns about what is going into quarantine. If you have some anxious people who want to drown their worries in alcohol or illicit drugs then there could be a problem. We don't want people sending weapons or bomb making equipment or anything else which might be used to threaten not just those securing the building and working in it but the entire community. 

So, you unwrap every parcel - and you leave it unwrapped. Or do you? Some of the parcels being unwrapped apparently contain Christmas presents for children. Do you really leave those unwrapped?

We are incarcerating people for a fortnight in hotel rooms because of a virus they may or may not have. Many of those people have already been through a lot to get this far. They are, on the whole, uncomplainingly accepting the need to quarantine. They are trying to keep children entertained and happy and as little stressed as possible.

All this suggests Christmas Day in quarantine should have at least something special attached to it.  Most of us, even when we can't see family or friends, will be able to move out of what amounts to a bedroom to a kitchen area. If we are really lucky, as I am, then we will be able to go into a garden and visit family in small numbers. Restrictions have been eased here although we have to take more precautions than most because of the Senior Cat. None of us mind that in the least. We are not in lock down or in quarantine.

But there are children in quarantine. Their numbers are fortunately small but it will be an odd sort of Christmas for them. Aside from the religious significance of Christmas  it is a time which should be for children, not adults. We often forget that. Christmas is about the birth of a child. It should focus on that and on children. It is about family. It should focus on that.

Too many people forget all that. They wonder what presents they will get and if they get what they have asked for.  Children do that too of course but children tend to be much more self-centred than adults. I know there will be people, perhaps some of you who read this, who will say, "Well, it won't hurt them to think of other people for once."

I would like them to think of other people too. It would be good if we all did that.  But children are still children. Christmas should be magical. You don't have to believe in Santa Claus, Father Christmas, or St Nicholas but you do need to believe in the magic. You need to be able to believe in the magic of anticipation. The parcel you get, even if it just one parcel, needs to be wrapped. 

I remember my paternal grandfather sitting at the dining room table on Christmas Eve muttering as he endeavoured to deal with sellotape, string and paper. He didn't like wrapping parcels but he knew it was important. One year my brother got a present it was not possible to wrap. Grandpa hid it in the shed. My brother got a box in a box in a box and then a big envelope and a smaller envelope. The message inside the small envelope told him to look in the shed. He ran out and I can still remember his, "Grandpa, it's fantastic!" (Grandpa had made it himself.) 

And so I would say to those who have unwrapped Christmas parcels which actually belong to children it is your responsibility to wrap them again. You need to wrap them in fresh paper and give those children the gift of anticipation.