Expectation gives some gifts a weight their wrapping cannot explain.

A parcel can arrive already carrying a question. When a gift is expected to settle something, an apology, a proof of affection, a signal about where things stand, it is being asked to do work no object can do, and the person opening it knows before the paper is off. That is why some presents feel tense and others feel light. What is inside is rarely the reason either way.

Before giving something loaded, ask whether the sentence you want said would be better said. A gift lands more happily when it is not the only thing carrying the message.