Changing times! (Insight from our local Angel Tree.)

I believe its important to teach our kids to GIVE especially during this Christmas season. I don't think there's an age when you should start....any time is honestly the best time.

We felt Bunny girl was old enough to understand the concept of giving and decided we'd get her to pick an 'angel' off the Salvation Army tree. We did this 2 years ago when Bunny girl was about 21 months old and last year we celebrated Christmas out of the country so missed picking an angel.

I still remember the first angel we picked 2 years ago. A little 5 year old boy whose only wish that Christmas was to get a ball. That moved our hearts so much and that's when we decided we needed to pick an angel every Christmas.

This year we asked Bunny girl to pick the angel.....the wish was to receive an XBox....WOW!! We quietly put the angel back on the tree and asked her to pick again because...errr....the tag was for a bigger child and we wanted to give a child as young as Bunny girl a present. I'm not sure whether it was just us or that tree was filled with XBox wishes....every angel we picked after that had an Xbox wish or a Wii, an MP3 Player (this was requested by a 5 year old) or a Car! (That's right!! This was from an 18 year old!) We finally picked an angel who asked for an MP3 player or clothes....you know what we'd be getting her, right?

Our local Angel Tree gave both Hubby and myself a jolt into reality....its 2009 and things have changed. What happened to the days when a 6 or 7 year old would ask for balls, books, teddy bears or cars? The wish lists we saw on the tree were such grown up 'wants'... more than what we'd ordinarily ever give a 6 or 7 year old. Scary!!

Bunny girl recently made a tiny list after watching Bert make a Christmas list during the Sesame Street Christmas play at Sea World last month and told us she wanted.....
1. A drawing board as her 2 year old wipe and erase board was smudged beyond clarity! (My Mom bought her the board just before she left)
2. Hooks to hang things (I have no idea why she thought of this) and
3. A clip. (That's right a single, solitary hair clip!)

I pray Bunny girl will always have simple desires and will always treasure even the small things in life. Sigh!


* While doing a search on Google I found that you can adopt an angel through the online Salvation Army Tree Angel Giving Tree hosted on the JCP site. Do you want to share the love of Christmas with a child not as fortunate as your own? Adopt an angel on the site and remember you do not have to shop at JCP to buy the child his/her gifts. *


** EBMR Disclaimer: This review has not been monetarily compensated and is based on the information provided to help get the word around for a mighty good cause!**

Labels: Angel Tree Program, Bunny girl, Christmas, Reflections, Salvation Army

posted by Marina@EBMR @ 5:31 AM