Christmas Shopping

Christmas is such a special time of year!  My husband and I always try to remind Ethane that Christmas is not just about receiving, but that is is also about giving.  We each take turns taking him Christmas shopping.  We give him a $20 limit to spend on each of us, but we let him completely pick out and put his gift together, so he learns about giving from his own heart.

This past weekend, I took Ethane Christmas shopping for his Daddy.  He wanted to go to Target, so that is where we headed.  On the car ride there, I asked if he had an idea of what he wanted to buy his Dad and he already knew one thing, but wanted to wait until we got there to tell me.  When we arrived at Target, he took me to the electronics section where they also have the books, magazines, and calendars.  He right away picked out a Dilbert desk calendar.  He had gotten this for his Dad last year too, so it is cute to see him starting a new tradition on his own.  I thought that was so cute!  Since the calendar was only $12, he realized he still had money in the budget to spend.  Right away, he knew EXACTLY what section to head to... the candy aisle!  He knows his Dad LOVES dark chocolate.  He must of looked at every dark chocolate item they sold until he found the one that would be the perfect gift.  He chose the dark chocolate orange candy.  He is a smart boy... you can never go wrong getting his Dad dark chocolate!

When we got home, we took the Christmas wrapping paper out, and he wrapped his Dad's gift and wrote a Christmas card to go along with it.  When he placed his gift for his Dad under the tree, you could see the pride and happiness that he was feeling from picking out a gift for his father.  We have been doing this for years now, but this year was the first year that I could really see the satisfaction he was getting from giving.  That made me so happy to see that Ethane is learning how much joy can be brought by giving.

Christmastime is a season of giving... Teaching children this is very important!  Just the other day, we were at the mall while they were doing a toy drive in the parking lot.  He asked what a toy drive was, and I told him people donate toys to children who their parent's cannot afford to buy them presents for Christmas.  I don't think he ever realized before then that not every child is as blessed as he is. I would like to have my family volunteer somewhere during this season as well to show him that giving can go outside of our family.  Does anyone have any volunteer ideas this time of year that are good to do with kids in the Orange County/Los Angeles area?

Have a blessed Monday!