The Season of Giving (and a Giveaway)
My brother Shepard died of cancer on November 29th, 2000. That year, several families did a 12 Days of Christmas for us.
I never found out who it was (although my parents may know), but I still clearly remember what a happy thing that was during a fairly difficult Christmas season.
I’ve always wanted giving to be part of our family Christmas celebrations, so when Kohl’s contacted me a few months ago and asked if we’d be interested in being matched with a family that needed some help for Christmas and picking out gifts for them at Kohl’s, Bart and I immediately said yes.
Two weeks ago, we received the information about the children, their sizes, a few things they wanted for Christmas, plus a gift card to Kohl’s to purchase the items, and yesterday the girls and I met Bart at our local Kohl’s during lunchtime, and we spent about an hour picking out items for three children in our area.
(Although these kids are young, they are substantially older than my girls, so it kind of broke my heart every time Ella picked out some toy she thought was the best and said, “Would those kids like THIS?” and I had to tell her that, no, it probably wasn’t quite the right toy for a nine-year-old boy).
I was really glad Bart came along, because he helped make sure we picked out a good combination of practical things like jackets and fun things, like a remote-controlled helicopter.
Also, I had saved a 20% off coupon that had come in the mail a few weeks ago, and when the total after the coupon came up as $149.55 (our budget was $150), Bart and I both possibly did a little cheer in the checkout lane.
Then we sat in the car and had a little picnic lunch with some sandwiches I’d packed, which was just a ridiculously nice forty-five minutes as a family.
This afternoon, we’ll drop off the bags of gifts at the local charity that we’re working through and we’ll cross our fingers the clothing fits and the toys are fun. And feel grateful for all we have – we are so very very fortunate.
This post wasn’t sponsored (although, I guess I do have a Kohl’s gift card with 45 cents on it. I’ll try not to spend it all in one place). Kohl’s provided the gift cards for us to buy the presents and the gift card for the giveaway. All words, pictures, and cute children are my own.
So sweet. I'm pregnant with my first, and I've been trying to think of how I can share with her giving to others during such a greedy season. Love this!
I'd love to do the same thing you did and do a sub-for santa thing.
My husband's family was blessed with some anonymous gifts during his childhood that were sorely needed when they lived in an old, tiny house. A few years ago, his parents returned to favor to a young family living in that same house. Each of the siblings and their families took turns delivering surprises, and since the family had no idea who we were we got to do it in person in behalf of an "unknown friend". It was incredible. My kids still talk about how special it was even though they were younger than 7 at the time. Best Christmas ever.
What a fun time to have as a family! Getting the children to think about giving to others early is a great idea!
What a beautiful thing to be able to do as a family. I'm trying to teach my children about giving, not only at Christmas, but year round. My oldest will be 3 in March so I'm hoping he's starting to grasp the fact that giving is a win/win situation. You make someone feel good and in return, you get a wonderful feeling as well.
This is great — thanks for hosting the giveaway!
That's so sweet! I've done Angel Tree and it's just such a good feeling!
Runt
runtspickins@yahoo.com
http://www.runtspickins.wordpress.com
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The best Christmases I've had are the ones where we get to do something like this. Well done you! (p.s. doesn't JUST making your budget just feel awesome?)
What a great thing to do….helping others in need. We have tried to start instilling this in our kiddos at a younh age too.
What a great thing to do! We've made our kids pick out and donate toys every year. They love it !
I love that it was a family affair and your girls were involved. We try to make sure our kids get involved with service especially during the holidays, I think it helps them really feel the Christmas spirit.
I love that you involved your kiddos in the gift selection. This is such an important lesson, especially around the holidays.
Everyone is commenting on how touched they are about your giving at Christmas, and all I'm thinking is "maybe this is finally my lucky day". I'm selfish.
We did the same for our neighbors- it's so much more fun picking things out for other people
That was a nice thing you were able to do, my kids love choosing a name off the tree at church during the Christmas season.
Kellywcu8888ATgmailDOTcom
So fun! Shopping for others is just a joy, isn't it?