On Saturday, I received an email from a friend. She had heard about a homeless shelter not far from our home, that currently is housing many moms. Those moms, sadly, are not going to be able to provide any holiday gifts for their children this year. My friend, saint that she is, emailed a bunch of her friends asking for donations. “Think about all the “extra” toys you have,” she wrote. “The ones you didn’t give your kids, for whatever reason.”
I though about my secret present-stashing spot in our house, and the many gifts that over the years we decided to hold back, whether for a rainy day or because our kids had too many gifts already. Donating them would be the perfect solution.
Our family has been blessed in so many ways, and I tell my kids that almost every day. Most of all, we are blessed that we all love each other, and that we are all healthy. (My kids roll their eyes at that one of course.) Secondarily, our kids have always woken up to piles upon piles of Christmas gifts. Even during years that have been leaner for us, Christmas is a day when we like to spoil our kids and lavish them with love and presents.
So when I heard about this homeless shelter, I snuck into my secret present closet, and brought up all the “extra” presents… about 10 of them. But then I thought about our good fortune, and all those kids living in the shelter, and realized 10 just wasn’t enough. So I grabbed my 12 year old, Jenna, and headed to Target. We picked out Barbies, Tonka Trucks, Polly Pockets, you name it, we got it. And would you believe it, Jenna was so caught up in picking out toys for these complete strangers, that she didn’t ask for a single thing for herself. Then we got home, and Jenna was kind enough to wrap EVERYTHING (I love that girl.)
We ended up with 4 huge Target shopping bags filled with wrapped presents for the homeless shelter. I felt so proud giving them to my friend, and to tell you the truth, it might have been the best part of our Christmas season so far. As my favorite wise sage Oprah likes to say, giving to others is actually a gift to yourself, and I really believe that is true. I plan to repeat this tradition every year… it will be my gift to myself.
Do you have a tradition of giving in your family? Please share it with us!
I spent a wonderful hour in Target this morning shopping for my giving tree recipients. I left with four large Target bags of my own and it felt great. Next year, I’ll take my kids, still a bit young now. It was the most fun I’ve had Christmas shopping this year!