Mommin' It Up!

We’re running around like crazy people this week… baking, shopping, wrapping, not sleeping… (oh wait, is that just me? Those of you who have your act together and are spending the next few days listening to Christmas carols and drinking hot chocolate, my hat’s off to you)… There’s one reason we’re doing it. To make other people happy, right?

Whether it’s sending Christmas cards or hosting a party or dropping change in the bell ringer’s kettle, we’re doing what we can to make the season bright for those around us.

For Jenny and me, it’s important that we bring the idea of giving to others to the forefront of our kids’ minds, so we were thrilled when Lands’ End asked us to be part of their “Share the Joy” campaign.

Lands’ End sent us each a $100 gift cards with the simple instructions to use them however we wished to help those in need.

We both thought of a million things we’d like to do with the money, but in the end we both came back to organizations that we’ve worked with before. Jenny contacted Joshua’s school principal and asked what their greatest needs were this year, and she said they needed Swiffer mop refills. As you may remember, Jenny pulled off a fairly amazing feat of couponing earlier in the year and got the teachers stocked up on mops, but they have classrooms full of messy, germ-y kids needed to have their supply replenished. So, Jenny used her $100 to help them out once again.

I decided to keep it local as well, and reached out to our local food pantry and found out they were looking for toys, hats, gloves, blankets and pillows. Kate and I went shopping and filled a cart with all of those things. It was fun to see what bargains we could find to make our $100 go as far as possible. Kate kept asking me about where we were in our “budget,” so really it was a lesson about giving to others and about money management all wrapped up into one! When we were done, she said “Mommy, I don’t want any presents this year. I like giving presents to other people more than getting them.” My heart swelled. And then she said, “Well, I mean, I do want SOME presents…” But regardless, she got the point. I hope she’ll remember that shopping trip – I know I will.

Now we want to hear from you – how do you plan to Share the Joy this season?

Thanks to Lands’ End for including us in this project.