Its’ the season to be jolly. It’s that time of year again, have you finished your holiday shopping? Sadly the holidays can leave us feeling not so cheery, due to the money we don’t have to spend on the holiday season. It’s unfortunate that so many of us have allowed Christmas to become more about receiving than giving.
It’s important we don’t forget what Christmas is about, and don’t forget about the gift of giving. It’s important we teach our children the power of giving during the holidays. There is not a more rewarding feeling, than the feeling of giving to someone who is in need. In the past I’m guilty of it, I have spoiled my children rotten. Then it hit me like a ton of rocks, my children really think Christmas is about the presents when there’s so much more to it. This year I have decided to cut back on my holiday spending, get my children less and teach them the power of giving.
This year my family has not only adopted another family, but we’ve spread the gift of giving where we could. I myself was reminded of what the holidays are truly about. There is nothing more powerful than the gift of giving to someone else. There’s so many people in the world today that are less fortunate than my family. Don’t get me wrong, we don’t have all the money in the world, and are by no means rich. However, we have enough money to share with those who don’t.
You know I myself forgot what it was like growing up with almost nothing. I think growing up that way, I set goals to make sure my children grew up with more. I think that’s normal we always want better for our children. But really, is more toys and cloths really more? No, it sure isn’t.
There’s so many things you can do to help turn someone else’s Christmas into something special. You don’t have to break the bank doing it either. Here’s a few things my family has done this holiday season.
- Made Christmas Cards – This year my children and I had a blast making Christmas Cards for a few people that we knew needed them. There’s several people in our lives, on our block, and that we know of that will be spending Christmas alone. So my children and I made them Christmas Cards and will hand deliver them on Christmas Eve.
- Make cookies – Now this isn’t complete yet. However, we have everything we need to make some super sweet cookies. We will grab a few small bags, put some cookies into the bags, and tie them up with ribbon. We will also be delivering a small batch of cookies with our cards.
- Adopt a family – This year one of the most rewarding things we’ve done is adopted a family. There’s 6 of us, and we all agreed to give up one gift and give them to the family we have adopted. How much fun is this, really what’s giving up one gift. It’s not like we’re getting a crazy amount of gifts, but I don’t think giving up one gift is too much to ask. We actually went this morning and turned in all 6 of our gifts. This year 3 children will receive 2 great gifts each. To make this really have an impact on my 8-year-old, I picked a family with children the same age as mine. Vayda was the reason I wanted to do this, she really thought Christmas was about what she was going to get for being good. Guess what, doing this had the best impact on her.
- Help, help, help. This one fell in my lap, and I was super thankful to be able to help. I had someone email me, asking if I knew where to get help. I wanted to thank several of my fellow bloggers, you know who you are. We have all come together to really help someone out. This was the most rewarding for me. So many people in my blogging community jumped to lend a hand with anything they could. Some as small as $5, do you know what that $5 did for a 4-year-old, 3-year-old and 3 month old? It bought them each a gift from the Dollar store, that they will love. But more important than that it helped another person out who was down on their luck, and having a hard time.
All these donation, people pitching in $5 helped pick someone up who was down, put a smile on someone’s face, and restored their faith. My children also were able to experience the magic of giving. My 8-year-old daughter is hooked, she wants to do it again next year. I’m one proud mommy, my children rock!
It’s true there’s nothing more powerful than the gift of giving. Whether you’re giving a hug, a smile, or $5 the gift that your giving will make a difference in someone’s life. This holiday season, don’t forget to give! There’s nothing more rewarding than helping, and I’m glad my children are lucky enough to now understand that.
