The Happiest Time of Year
Today I embarked on my first step in preparing for the Christmas/Holiday season (because Thanksgiving is still around the corner). I didn't put up our tree, hang a wreath, or buy any presents. I still haven't switched to listening to Christmas songs every waking hour, and I was even a little sad that the stores were playing them.My first holiday action was buying a dollar toy for Toys for Tots as I checked out at the store today.
Don't get me wrong. I am not saying I am better than anyone who has begun the holiday season in other fashions. It is my favorite time of year, and I can't wait for December to hit. Yet, today made me think.
I always budget for the Christmas season, and a huge part of that budget is for little things like that dollar toy. Or for the red Salvation Army buckets. Or the numerous other charities and causes that spring up this time of year.
However, as I patiently stood in line today with my one year old, I watched as each person in front of me quickly declined the cashiers question of donating. It's not necessarily wrong or bad, but when you are buying six 12-packs of soda, what is one dollar? I'm sure we all have our reasons, and I know on more than one occasion the words of "We can't afford to do that!" have crossed my lips. That's why I started budgeting money away for those moments.
When it was finally our turn, I set our five items on the counter and unbuckled my kiddo from the cart. The store had a little box of small toys sitting on the counter that you could pick to donate from. I lifted up my son and let him pick out a toy. Now, I know, he's only one. I understand. I don't my son is a genius or that he realizes what he was doing.
All that said, I still let him pick. I told the cashier that we would donate the Hot Wheels car that he had grabbed and she had us walk it over to the giant Toys for Tots box. There were only five toys in the box. It made my heart break a little. Christmas is still far off, but only five? My son let the car fall in with the others and we paid for our things and left.
Next time we go shopping there, I will let him pick out another toy and we will drop it in that great big box. Hopefully, there will be more toys in there. As we continued our errands, we did the same thing at another store, only this time we bought a can of food to give a family for Thanksgiving. Just little things. Nothing extraordinary or special, but it is what I do each holiday season.
Which is what I have been thinking about. Why do I only do this during the months of November and December? Is there some magical spell that says people will only want or need during these two months? I know the answer is no, but why do we treat it like that's the case?
I came home today and while my son napped, I looked at my budget. Not just my holiday budget, my whole budget. The financial plan that makes up my entire year. Why don't I budget for June or July? It will take some research on my part, but I know there are ways to give throughout the whole year. I've known it all along, but I'm not doing it. I wait till the spirit of the Christmas holiday season comes upon me, just like everyone else, and then I give.
So now, I will be looking at my budget again in January and instead of putting aside money to donate only in November and December, I will budget out the other 10 months as well. I'm not sure what I will give to yet, since there isn't a red bucket outside of the department stores in May, but I will figure it out.
As far as my son goes, I will continue to let him help in my donations. I know he is only one, but it sets a precedent. Even at this early age, I want him to have a giving and generous heart. In order to do that, I have to be the example.
I hope next time you check out at the store, the clerk asks you to donate to something. Maybe you will say yes, or maybe you will drop a dollar in the red bucket. When you do it, I hope six months from now you will remember. Six months from now, I hope you find something else to donate to like I plan to.
A few ideas on where to give throughout the year - especially next year:
ReplyDelete- Women's shelters are always open for donations of health/beauty care items. Some places only take new bottles, but some take partial bottles. When you are running to a shelter, you probably forget your shampoo, lotion, body wash, toothpaste... All the things in your bathroom right now didn't get packed when my mom took my siblings and herself to a women's shelter when I was 6. A bottle of kids' shampoo would have made the two month stay much better.
-The same shelters can often use gently used clothing. If you aren't already giving Spencer's clothes to a friend, you could see if a shelter could use them.
-This is the last shelter-related one, I promise. People sometimes spend their birthdays in shelters. You could check with a local one, and maybe buy a gift for a woman/child. It doesn't have to be much. When you have very few possessions, a small gift can mean a lot.
- You are crafty, right? http://www.crafthope.com/ has challenges throughout the year to help children in need. You could use budgeted money to buy supplies, pay for postage, etc.