Advent- Day 12

Day 12: Buy a gift for someone in need

I apologize for the hold-up in posting. We got a little behind from this day, which delayed the updates! Anyways, I took Kaden to Target to purchase a gift for a boy in need. We planned on donating the toy through Angel Tree, and I wanted Kaden to pick it out so it was more meaningful. We spent 20 minutes in the toy section at Target, and Kaden finally decided he wanted the boy to have a Sponge Bob fishing game. I was thankful he didn't choose that for himself since I'm not a fan of character games, nor am I a fan of Sponge Bob stuff. I explained to him that we were going to give it to a boy who wasn't going to get presents this year and that it would make him very happy. Of course while we were there looking at the toys Kaden had to pick out something that he could spend his own money on, and after a very indecisive process, he decided on a Superman transformer. Once we got home, he of course decided that he wanted to keep the Sponge Bob toy, and he wanted a different transformer than the one he chose. Sorry, buddy. You have to face the consequences of your decisions and keep the Superman toy. And, no, you're not going to keep the toy for the boy in need. After a temper tantrum, a lecture, and a quote from Kaden that he called the boy on his cell phone and insisted the boy didn't want the toy anymore, we let it rest for the day.

On delivery day, I wanted to bring it to an Angel Tree drop-off location that allowed participants to place the gifts under a tree. In the past I had always done this at Talsma Furniture and it was great to put gifts under their Angel Tree for those in need. However, they were not a participating location this year, so we checked on drop-off locations and saw that the new Y right by our house was a drop-off location. I wanted to take a picture of Kaden dropping off his toy and I sent daddy to bring it with him. I was very disappointed to find out that the lady behind the front desk at the Y just took the gift from Kaden and put it in the back. What a letdown and non-photogenic moment. I think Kaden actually thought the needy boy was going to be there, and seemed confused by it all.

I was beginning to think that Kaden was missing the point of this whole experience. However, the next day he came out of his room with his pillowcase full of stuff. He said, "Mom, these are toys for the boy whose Mommy and Daddy don't have any money to buy him some for Christmas." What a sweetheart. I guess the idea of giving and not receiving really started to stick with him. I'm proud of my little boy.

Today's book choice was: S is for Star, A Christmas Alphabet by Cynthia Reynolds