Ahhh! The Gift of Giving Back!

Day 5! To those of you playing along, sorry I haven't been able to comment much this week. There's this whole thing about an Orangutan's birthday today? Yeah. It's kind of thrown me off a little! Happy Birthday Orangutan! Your Zookeeper loves you! I'll be back on track tomorrow after the chocolate cake wears off.

So now. On to Day 5!

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But that's not what you wanted to know is it? You want to know what the question is and how can this loony twist it up! Well, I'm not messing with it today (I don't think!).

Today, make a blog post about what you do to give back during the holidays. Do you volunteer your time? If so, please tell us where. What do you do to teach your children the true meaning of the holidays?

Our family does not formally donate our time to charities during the holidays. My children love to donate anything and anyway they can though. The magic sound of the Salvation Army bell brings little palms out of no where for any and all spare change we can find. The trip to the fire house is an annual highlight and every year before we leave, I choke up to hear them say Thank You. To their heroes.

I'm even more proud of them if we have a trip to the airport during the holiday seasons. They keep their eyes peeled for the ladies and gentlemen in the "polka dot" suits so that they can personally say Thank You. I can't even count the number of smiles that they have given out that way. And not just to the troops but to the people who see them doing so. Tucker makes it a point to find anyone in any kind of uniform - even the porters - and say thank you.

Molly goes through her toys every year looking for something to give to the “little boys and girls who don’t get Christmas.” This year she is already planning on weeding out her books. We also enjoy gathering gifts for Angel Tree families when we can and the Toys for Tots campaign is on our To Do list.

I am very proud of my children when it comes to the holiday spirit. They are always friendly and kind to people they meet but during the holiday season they seem to find extra smiles. And not because of the looming presence of Santa or the gifts. I seldom have to prompt them to use please’s and thank you’s. They just seem to pick up the spirit from people around them and bounce it back.

And now I have to go wipe my face and blow my nose. I never said I was above sentimentality!