A Perfect Christmas?

This is a story of two women who were trying to make the most of Christmas. Technically, they each were doing the same thing, but which one had the true spirit of Christmas?

Mother Perfection:

A mother hurried along to fill her jars with the perfect Christmas cookie mix to give her neighbors.

"May I help?" her son, Tommy, cried.

"Very well. But please follow my instructions."

So the child filled the first jar with flour, soda, and sugar, as his mother told him to do.

"No, no," she chided. "You're spilling everywhere!"

So the child did his best to clean up the mess and dropped in a layer of candy in the jar.

"No, no!" the mother chided again. "The candy needs to be lined up evenly."

So Tommy made the crooked line of candy a little less so. Now they each cut out some Christmas fabric to cover the jars.

"No! You are not cutting it even! Who wants to look at that?"

Tommy frowned and worked extra hard to cut a perfect square.

"Why are you going so slow?" the mother asked.

Tommy shrugged. Now for the ribbon. Tommy cut the ribbon with precision.

"That is too short."

So Tommy cut out another ribbon and tied a big bow and smiled at his mother. Surely she would be pleased with this.

"Oh, look at that bow! It's all twisted up on itself. It looks ridiculous. You know what? I'm just going to do this myself."

So, the mother filled and decorated the remainder of the jars. They were all perfect. The flour, sugar, and candy were lined up perfectly, the fabric layered on each jar was cut out just right and the bows were tied flawlessly. And then, the mother left the house to deliver her perfect jars and left her ashamed and tearful child at home.

Mother Heart:

A mother hurried along to fill her jars with the perfect Christmas cookie mix to give her neighbors.

"May I help?" her son, Tommy, cried.

"Of course! This will be fun!"

So the child filled the first jar with flour, soda, and sugar.

"You got most of that in the jar. Good job! Let's add a little bit more now."

Now, Tommy lay a new layer of candy in the jar. His mother noticed the lines were crooked, but she knew Tommy had done his best.

"Thank you so much for helping me," she told him.

Now they each cut out some Christmas fabric to cover the jars. Tommy's chubby fingers cut the fabric crooked, but his mother put it on the jar anyway.

"May I cut the ribbon?" Tommy asked.

"Of course, dear," his mother said.

So Tommy cut the ribbon.

"Oops. It doesn't quite fit. What should we do?" his mother asked.

"I'll cut a new one and make it longer," Tommy said.

"Good idea." 

So Tommy cut out another ribbon and tied a big bow and smiled at his mother.

"Oh, look at that bow! It's wonderful!"

Tommy grinned at his mother, very pleased with himself.

"Would you like to help me with the rest of the jars, Tommy?"

"Yes!"

So, Tommy and his mother filled and decorated the remainder of the jars. There was a lot of spilling, the layers were uneven, the fabric was crooked and the bows were big and lopsided. And it took three times longer than it would if Tommy's mother had done it by herself. But Tommy and his mother talked and laughed as they did it together. Tommy even went with his mother to deliver the jars, proudly telling everyone that he had helped make their gift.

When they were all finished, Tommy hugged his mother and she kissed his cheek.

"That was fun! Can we do that again next year?"

So which mother had the true spirit of Christmas? It's obvious, isn't it?