Rookie Dad: The box is more exciting than the gift

By a child's second Christmas, that particular child should be able to open his or her Christmas presents without assistance. I have that sort of high expectations - even though The Youngling is a mere 13 months old. She is already getting in to everything in the house and seems almost passionate about destroying things - particularly photo album pages - so why shouldn't she be eager to tear through some colorful wrapping paper and find a box waiting inside that's far more entertaining that the toy it holds?
Maybe my expectations about The Youngling's dexterity and eagerness to shred paper are lofty but that little girl is ahead of the curve - even if she isn't walking unassisted yet and is stuck at having only five teeth.

But we've planned ahead for her love of everything but toys as presents. I'm fairly certain that everything under the tree is a box full of random bits destined for the recycling bin: soda bottles, empty soup cans and a couple of graham cracker boxes. We've even (well I have) planned ahead for her lack of ambition when it comes to tearing off wrapping paper - I've pre-tore most of the paper on her gifts so she can easily get to those boxes and bits of recycling material. I'm all about boosting that little lady's ego.