A Gripe

First of all I have to remember that Lauren called her burned hand (that blistered) her Bubblehand. Hilarious!

Onto my gripe. This weekend we took Lauren to the mall to pick a tag off the giving tree, so that we could help someone less fortunate have a nice Christmas. Now, times are hard for most people right now. Jason being laid off again has really made us tighten the belts on things once again, but I want Lauren to learn that we need to help others in need and the giving is far better than receiving. I went into this thinking we could spend about $25 for a gift. I thought that seemed logical. Boy was I wrong.

I let Lauren pick the tag and she picked a 44 year old man who wanted a T-shirt for Christmas. This was what I expected. Now, I am going to tell you that I held onto that one and glanced at some others to see if we could afford to do a child as well. Um...fat chance! I saw tags for boomboxes, CD players, PSP's, $80 perfume, pots and pans set, etc. I was shocked and kind of put off by it. I mean, times are tough and many people do not have the money to buy expensive things right now. It kind of hurt me that we wanted to do something nice for someone, yet we couldn't afford most of the things on these people's wish lists. Jason and I have not gotten each other Christmas, bday, anniversary gifts for years and we are fine with that.

Anyway, I gladly took our tag for the dear 44 year old who wanted a T-shirt. We found a pack of 3 very nice Wisconsin T-shirts for this person and I gladly got them knowing that this would make his Christmas a little more special. I think many forget the true meaning of Christmas. It shouldn't be about gifts, it should be about giving and family. What we teach our kids now will be instilled in them for a lifetime and I certainly hope my daughter learns that Christmas is not about how many gifts are under the tree.

**getting off my soapbox**