We live a life which is blessed. I might complain a bit about having to live away from home, but (most of the time…) I do realise how lucky I am – we’re healthy, have enough money and are surrounded by people who love us (even if they’re not around the corner just at the moment).
I was looking at our Christmas tree this morning and thinking about how many presents are under the tree for the girls, despite the fact that we are living thousands of miles away from our friends and families. They are going to be well and truly spoilt.
Christmas is a time for giving as well as receiving and trying to get young children to understand this can be tricky, so we spent an hour this afternoon doing this:
Our giving tree
We visited a website called Good Gift were you can choose a much needed present to be sent to someone or a community in need. I gave the girls a budget each and told them if they wanted to spend more than their budget then they’d have to give me a very good reason.
As we looked through the website the Little One wanted to add everything to the shopping cart. The Big One took a different approach and very quickly narrowed down her choices. She wanted to save dolphins from fishing nets by fitting an alarm on the nets, as well as buying some medicine to save someone’s life. The Little One chose a blanket for a new born baby in Africa, some pyjamas and a teddy for a child in the UK who doesn’t have any, 50 bowls of rice to feed hungry children and some warm clothes for street children in India.
It was an interesting process to watch as the girls decided what they would give. We printed out pictures of all the things they had chosen and stuck them by the Christmas tree so we could remember those people without as much as we have. It certainly made us feel more Christmassy and hopefully the girls will appreciate everything they get just a little bit more this year.
