Giving is way better then receiving except when you are 4 years old and an Elsa Barbie doll is all you want for Christmas. This such a proud mommy blog post on how we were able to buy gifts for needy families and teach our daughters the value of giving to others even when it’s super hard.
We had $100 to spend and so we headed to Fleet Farm to get the one single-mom-family something small for each child and the other single-mom-family everything they could possibly want for Christmas with 3 children under the age of two.
From aisle to aisle it was such a pleasure to see our oldest child getting excited about buying gifts for those with less then her. She quickly filled our cart with toys and buying for these little children was easy and enjoyable. She was ready to give baby toys and she was happy to be in charge of what we gave these little “brothers and sisters” however as we started to look for the other family’s Christmas gifts, with two little girls the same age as her and her little sister, it got a little bit harder.
You see our oldest has been very much looking forward to getting an Elsa and Anna Barbie doll since the movie came out last year and when I asked her what she thought these two little girls would want for Christmas her initial answer was easy, Elsa and Anna Barbie dolls, but once we got to the store it made buying these friends what she wanted so much harder. For awhile she avoided those last two dolls on the shelf. She suggested legos, dollies, or other craft like toys but when we walked by those beloved Barbies she would snub them because in her heart of hearts she wanted them and I knew she thought that if she gifted them she wouldn’t be getting them under her pink Christmas tree.
Finally she took a deep breath, grabbed those Barbies, and was ready to head to the checkout. We got to that belt, loaded up all the toys and she quickly told the cashier, “These toys aren’t for us- we don’t get to play with them- and they are for kids that don’t have much.” I loved her frankness and I loved how she was pep talking herself into this. I was so proud as we headed out of the store and she had learned the lesson of giving and loving on others.
Christmas morning our daughters opened up an Anna and Elsa Barbie doll along with the other slew of Disney Princess Barbies that came wrapped from their Oma and while she was so excited to open them that morning I was so excited to know another family was opening up presents that morning and they were just as excited by what she had so lovingly given.
Very Merrily,
Ashleigh Harris