The Perfect Present : The Passive-Aggressive 🧩 Puzzle

I’m puzzled why I was given this…

Photo by author

My eldest daughter gave me a wooden jigsaw puzzle for a Christmas present. I haven’t enjoyed doing a jigsaw puzzle for many years. There’s a reason for that. When I was pregnant with my fourth child, my nephew who was a toddler at the time came to visit and completely wrecked the huge puzzle I was doing on my glass coffee table. I just didn’t have the heart to start again.

And I returned to full-time teaching after my maternity leave so with 4 kids and a full-time job, I really didn’t have time or energy for puzzles.
But my sister has been fighting a battle against cancer for 10 years now and after multiple radiation and chemo sessions, she has little energy for more social pursuits. She reads a lot but really enjoys completing puzzles. She has a proper puzzle table, sorting boxes, the works. It’s her passion.

So my daughter obviously bought her Auntie one of these intricate puzzles and thought I’ll just get one for mum as well without any real thought if I would enjoy it. (By the way, she bought me a book on travelling leaving a lesser footprint but said she’d read it herself first, so I still haven’t received my birthday gift — and my birthday was in June!)