LPHJ Kitchen: Day 2 of the 12 Days of Giving

So today proved to be very trying….but very rewarding! My husband and I explained to the kids (mainly the 5 yr old, little miss doesn’t speak English yet ha!) that today we would be buying gifts for the less fortunate. Our town has an “Angel Tree” that helps provide Christmas gifts for needy children (anonymously). Last week I went to pick our angels and surprisingly there were several left. I chose 4 special angels that were close in age to our kids. We had a 6 year old girl, a 6 year old boy, a 7 year old boy and a 1 year old girl. When I looked at the tags later I noticed most only asked for clothing or shoes. I was very surprised and very humbled at the same time. My husband and I decided that we’d get both; clothes and toys. My son actually did very well with buying the gifts. He was very excited and wanted to get them EVERYTHING. Food, shoes, socks, toys, soap, books… you name it, he tried to put it in the cart. He only asked a couple times if he was getting something but didn’t throw fits when I told him “no”. Anyway, I was very proud of him. We spent a lot more money than we planned. Our plan was to spend about $30 per kid. However, we quickly realized that wasn’t going to happen. By the time you get a small toy and gloves you are practically there. Our Christmas bonuses may be gone BUT I’m happy to say that each child got gloves, a hat, shoes, socks, PJs, an outfit, books, 2 small toys and some candy (plus the baby got a coat!). The worst part of the whole trip was the crowd at Wal-Mart. Oh my gosh. We tried to get there early but it was closer to mid-morning. By the time we left at 11, it was crazy!!! Our daughter was tired and cranky. She threw her shoes, spilled her milk, screamed at the top of her lungs, lost her ponytail (which gave her a hideous, messy, Mohawk thing – don’t worry you’ll see her on “people of Wal-Mart” later), etc. My son wanted to put everything in the cart, wandered off, ran his face into a shopping cart (only a small black eye), etc. Once we got home and unloaded all the bags of stuff and laid all the gifts out, I realized it was all worth it and I’d do it again in a heartbeat. I knew this would be our big “day of giving” but I’m so happy that it went as well as it did. Through all the madness I saw our purpose and that’s all that matters. I sincerely hope that each child we were able to help has a wonderful Christmas and I hope that their parents or caregivers have one less stress to worry about this holiday season. Here’s some pics of our rewarding day!