The gift

Thank you to everyone who shared their thoughts about gift-giving in my last post.  I'm going to reply here with what we ended up doing.

After discussing it with J, we decied to let Sprout make a gift (a picture she drew, for which we got a frame) and then to offer a second gift from the rest of the family.  So, Sprout did her drawing, and we went to an art supply store to look for a frame. While we were there, Sprout saw a heart-shaped canvas. She grabbed it and exclaimed, "Oh, Mom! I know A would love this! Can we please buy it for her?  It's just like a heart and will show her I love her. Oh, please!" I agreed to the great idea and suggested we also buy some paints and brushes, so A would be sure to have something to make a masterpiece with.  Then Sprout picked out "the most hearted gift bag" to show A how much she loves her.  We put the framed picture and art supplies together and voilà.

I liked the idea of buying something Sprout could personalize, but in Egypt, things like that are not to be found just anywhere. With the short delay, we didn't have time to hunt something down.

And we don't know if A liked the present or not. It is the family's tradition to open the gifts after the guests have gone.