one down.

1. Make gingerbread houses. See who's is better. (Mine.)

2. Bake and decorate Christmas cookies together.

3. Watch a Christmas movie marathon in our jammies.

4. Donate a toy to Toys for Tots

5. Get all bundled up and go for a walk in the snow.

6. Drive around and look at Christmas lights.
7. Get coffee and take it to someone who needs a little Christmas cheer.
8. Actually send Christmas cards this year....
9. Take a picture with Santa.

Today I set out to get most of my Christmas shopping done. While I was out, I knew I wanted to pick up a toy to donate to Toys for Tots. I had a gift to pick up for my niece as well, so while I was in the toy section at Target, I started perusing for our donation. The local news mentioned that they were in need for toys for girls age 4-7, so that's what I was looking for. 

My cart was nearly full with all the Christmas gifts and wrapping paper I was buying. I knew my total was going to be astronomical, so I thought, "Well, I'll just grab something little that's like $5 or $6." But as I picked up a piece-of-junk toy that was $5.99, I became totally overwhelmed with emotion. I started thinking about the kids who would be receiving the toys from Toys for Tots. How that one toy would likely be their only gift this year. How they probably haven't gotten a "new" toy for quite some time. How Santa won't be coming to their house, because Mom and Dad can't afford to buy gifts from Santa. I stood in the aisle...now admittedly near tears. I put down the junky toy, and decided that even though I don't know the little girl who will get our donated toy, it doesn't mean that I shouldn't put thought and time (and maybe a little extra money) toward their gift. 

Suddenly, no gift was good enough for this little girl. I must have walked up and down the toy aisles 10 times. I picked up countless toys...and then put them down. Because they weren't the perfect toy for this child. Finally, the Lalaloopsy dolls caught my attention. Lalaloopsy is a show on tv. The characters (and therefore the dolls) are incredibly bright and cheery. I immediately knew that this is what I would get. I thought it would be a happy gift, because of all the bright colors. I looked through all the dolls and finally decided on what I thought was the perfect one:

It wasn't the most expensive toy on the shelf. But it certainly wasn't $5.99 either. And the fact that I put about 20 minutes of thought into this gift that I'll never know the owner of, instead of grabbing the first cheap toy I saw is what matters. 

So Ty will take it to work on Monday and drop it in the bin at his office. We'll never know the recipient of this toy. We'll never know what her reaction will be upon opening it. But we'll know that we did a tiny thing to make her Christmas special. And that's all that matters. 

What a great way to cross the first item off my December Manifesto.

xoxo, wife.