Every year since I was a teenager, I have donated a gift to Santa’s Anonymous. Sometimes I do it through work, sometimes on my own. Last year, I introduced my kids to the concept.
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Last year
I remember last year they opened the door to our advent calendar and Jordan read the note. Then he asked me, “What does ‘Santa’s a mouse’ mean?”
I explained to the kids how lucky they are, that for Christmas they not only get presents from Santa, but also from us, their grandparents and other friends and family.
Then I told them that not all children are as lucky as they are. I told them that some families cannot afford lots of new things and that because we are so lucky, we want to help those families get presents too.
I explained to them that we would be going to a store after school that has a special Christmas tree with paper decorations on it. Each decoration is a child and the decoration will tell us if the child is a boy or girl, how old they are and what they want for Christmas.They would each get to pick one and we would get the presents for those children.
They were excited about the idea. I made sure I was explaining it properly and emphasized that we were NOT buying any toys for them. They understood.
This year
Jordan still can’t read the word “anonymous”.
They again asked what it meant. I asked if they remembered going to the store last year to buy presents for kids they don’t know.
Jordan lit up, “oh yeah!” and proceeded to explain Santa’s Anonymous to his little sister.
We decided to go after school again. Again, they understood they would not be getting presents for themselves.
The best-laid plans…
To be fair, I didn’t plan very well.
Jordan’s school was going on a walking trip to a theatre in the afternoon. Diabetes struck.
You see, for Jordan’s type 1 diabetes, exercise brings his blood sugar down. Walking to and from the theatre is nothing to a child without diabetes, but for Jordan, it takes a bit of extra planning.
I forgot about his field trip until after school.
Cam, Lincoln, and I rushed to the school because we thought we were going to be late.
Of course we were greeted by a deserted school. The classes had not yet made it back from the concert.
Then it hit me and I started to panic.
I hadn’t confirmed if one of his EA’s would be with him during the walk and the concert. I had no idea if he had his supplies on him. I knew a walk like that (30-45 minutes each way) would make his blood sugar dip low… but did they realize that?
When the classes started to trickle in, his EA zipped past me into his class. She came back out to tell me Jordan’s blood sugar was at 2.9 (52 for those in the US), which is very low. Ideally, he should be between 5 and 8.
He came out and told me everything felt like a dream. I know it’s a really bad low when he says that.
He drank an entire juice box (we usually only do half at a time) and checked 15 minutes later. I was expecting him to be high but he was only at 5.6 (101).
His blood sugar was stable, but we had missed 2 busses during the commotion and Santa’s Anonymous would have to wait until tomorrow.
Second time’s a charm?
Day 2 after school: blood sugars were good. We hopped on a bus to get the presents. I like to go to Walmart for Santa’s Anonymous because it’s a one stop trip to pick a child, get the present, and drop it off.
On the way, the kids were discussing who they wanted to get gifts for. Jordan wanted to get a boy (because he’s a boy) and Cam then decided she wanted a girl for the same reason. They were talking about it the whole way to the store.
I showed them the tree and told them each to pick a decoration. Jordan was reading the information on the back while Cameron was basing her decision on how the pictures were colored.
The two ladies at the table watched as my kids picked one after another and said “this one! … no, wait… this one!” Finally, Jordan decided on a 1-year-old little boy and Cam picked a 5-month-old baby girl. Lincoln didn’t pick one. He’s still too little, maybe next year.
So, we signed out our selections and went to look for gifts.
As we walked past the tree toward the toy section, Cam noticed a rainbow colored decoration and said, “Oh, if I had seen that one I would have picked it instead!” (I don’t know how she missed it the first time…)
Both of the kid’s choices had specific requests.
We got the little boy a BeatBo toy and the little girl got a Lion Walker. I think they’ll be a hit for both children, Lincoln was sad to see the toys go. It seems he thought they were for him.
Once we bought the gifts, we went back to the table where the kids handed the toys and their decorations back to the ladies. There were jokes about how the kids managed to pick and pay for the presents quicker than they picked out their decorations! The ladies understood that my kids were the ones donating the gifts and they made sure to thank each of them by name and told them how much the gifts would mean to the little boy and girl.
The ladies understood that my kids were the ones donating the gifts and they made sure to thank each of them by name and told them how much the gifts would mean to the little boy and girl.
On the way home I told them what a good job they did and that I was proud of them.
Apparently the whole concept meant a lot to my daughter. Later on, when we were eating dinner, out of the blue she brightened up and made a comment about how “that boy and girl are going to be soooo happy when they get our presents.”
~ Leah
PS – If you are wanting to make donations, there are plenty of ways to do it. Here are a few:
- Santa’s Anonymous
- Mustard Seed food donations
- Shoe and sock drives for homeless shelters
- Sponsor a woman and her children in a Transition House (similar to Santa’s Anonymous)
- Gently used clothing and toy donations (Salvation Army, Value Village, W.I.N., or Clothesline Drop Boxes)
* Value Village and Clothesline also donate to the Canadian Diabetes Association (which is, of course, important to our family) as well as to many other non-profit organizations.
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