This time of year is traditionally celebrated with the standard
turkey feast and I won’t bother to bore you with the details of the
mashed potatoes and gravy. In my house the tradition of eating
Thanksgiving dinner is soon followed by the purging of the closets
and toy boxes.
This time of year is traditionally celebrated with the standard turkey feast and I won’t bother to bore you with the details of the mashed potatoes and gravy. In my house the tradition of eating Thanksgiving dinner is soon followed by the purging of the closets and toy boxes.
This is Thanksgiving, first we are thankful for all that we have and then we focus on “giving”.
There is no better time than a month before Santa is due, to examine and contemplate the worthiness of toys and clothes that they have outgrown or never used at all. The idea that they will get more new things in a few weeks is usually the way to get their attention and bribe them into cleaning, but I know that once they get past the initial thoughts of separation anxiety and start thinking about why we really do this, they really do get into it.
I remind the kids each year that they have a lot more than some kids have, and wouldn’t it be generous and thoughtful to donate some things (some toys are still in their boxes and clothes with tags!) to some one who needs it?
They get inspired and often times give away things that I would prefer they keep. It was difficult at first to stay out of it and not intercept certain items that I wasn’t ready to part with yet, “just in case someone came over with a younger child and needed something to pay with”. Or books! Oh boy do I have a hard time parting with books. But, I’ve learned to let it go.
If my 16-year-old daughter wants to give her new coat away, who am I to stop her? Our kids have so much more than I did as a child and thankfully, she has two coats. It’s hypocritical of me to tell them to “give, give, give” and then scrutinize what they feel they can live without. So I let them decide.
So far I haven’t heard any regrets. No second thoughts. Not once has one of my kids come back later and said, “I wish I had kept that.” They aren’t as attached to their “things” as we think they are. In the past we’ve taken the majority of our donations to the Salvation Army.
I have tried to donate to the battered women’s shelter, but this is a very popular donation site and is often overwhelmed with donations that they have to turn them away. If you don’t wish to donate to the Salvation Army or Goodwill, I have a couple of suggestions if you’re willing to invest some time driving to a few different places.
First of all don’t be afraid to separate your things into categories. Any new toy can be re-wrapped and donated to Toys for Tots. The familiar cardboard barrels will be appearing soon in grocery stores everywhere. New clothes can be donated to churches for families in need, and if your church isn’t accepting donations, I’m sure with a few phone calls you can find one that will.
This year we’ve decided to donate to a senior housing complex. These residential buildings have recreation rooms where children go to visit their grandparents. I’m sure most places would welcome children’s books and toys to be shared in the common areas. I remember visiting my grandmother at the Plum Tree West on Montebello and sometimes she visited with her friends and played bingo in the recreation room. A toy box or bookcase would have been great.
The Village Green has a small library and I’m sure they would take donations of books of any variety. If you don’t know of any senior communities, think of any waiting rooms you’ve been to that looked sparse. I would recommend calling ahead to any of these places just to be sure they have space, but I’m sure most offices would welcome a few donated things.
The kids and I will load up the car next week and spend an afternoon piling in and out until the last items are gone. We’ll probably stop and have lunch and talk about Christmas coming and I’ll assure them that they are doing the right thing. It’s possible that they’ll grow up and forget all about it, but I hope they’ll pass the tradition of giving at Thanksgiving on to their children.
