Most Wonderful Time of the Year... Or it Can Be...

Every year around this time, I agonize over the fact that most things we (my husband and I) give to others is disposable. Not by our own choosing - it's just the things we give are in the middle level between trinkety and Santa worthy. Being a single income household makes it difficult for our intentions to catch up with reality but that shouldn't really be the point. The point (in my humble opinion) is to concentrate on how much we have. The children around us have so much - my son included. It's difficult to
think of piling up the tree so that there is a wow factor to Christmas. I get it - really I do. When I was little - I loved the wow factor but it didn't always have to do with a ton of money being put into it. I remember one year, my mom made us all toolboxes decorated to each of our interests and personalities - it was a great place to keep our prized possessions and a great bulky thing to have under the tree when we came to the den that Christmas morning. My mom was always great about finding creative ways to make our Christmas special with not just the gifts we got, but the day itself. We had scavenger hunts to find our 'big' gift which really stretched out the present opening time. I carry that on with my son and he loves it! It's a great way to not have him tear through each gift and be finished within 5 minutes time.

This ramble is part of a suggestion that I have. A few years ago, I made the suggestion to my sister and sister in law that we have the kids in the respective families choose a charity together. From that charity, we got their wish list of things they needed and as a family (again respectively) we went shopping and had breakfast together so the kids could understand what we were doing and also have the fun of sitting around a restaurant table and enjoying each other. The rub was that it meant the kids were not getting presents from their aunt/uncle that year. This loops me back to the disposable gift part. I love the idea of our $15-$20 gift making a difference. We buy for 14 kids and that is only immediate family and excluding my son... that's a lot in our house and we (I) put a lot of thought into each one.

Although we haven't done this exercise since that Christmas, I've tried to do things that are outside the average charity with my son at this time of year. The soup kitchens and angel trees are all booked up in regard to volunteers (which is a good problem) but there are all sorts of organizations that need things to stay afloat. Childsavers is a always a go to charity for me. I recommend checking out their website www.childsavers.org to learn more. They are a Richmond based organization that helps children who have been through or witnessed a trauma. These traumas can range from abuse, witnessing abuse, a family fire or tragedy - a wide range. Last Christmas, I bought a reindeer piggy bank on clearance after Christmas to display and collect change throughout the year for this year's donation. I'm really curious to see how much we've collected, but I'm not too hopeful. I'd say through August, my son nor husband even knew where it was (even though it was on a prominent shelf in our playroom) - but I digress :).

The whole point of this rambling is that most of us are very fortunate and what we don't have in overflowing funds, we make up for with a roof over our heads and people who love us whether it be our family, children, spouses, friends, etc. Take time this season (Thanksgiving and Christmas) to really be thankful and spread some of that wealth to others. Bake something for the neighbor who lives alone or send a card with a funny message or picture to someone who suffered a loss of a loved one this year or dress up in something festive and colorful for caroling at a nursing home. I really don't mean to get preachy, but I'd love for the focus to be on something other than who's spending the most on what...