It was my wife’s work Christmas party last night (spouses not invited), so I took the boys out for dinner and a little Christmas shopping.
We needed to get things for cousins, grandparents, aunts, uncles, nannies, Mama, and .. other kids.
Adam of Fodder 4 Fathers, asked the Dad Blogger group this week how we teach our kids about charity this time of year.
It’s important. With SO MUCH SPOILING going on, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. It’s time to dial it back and remember what’s important and be thankful for what we have.
So the boys did a purge of older toys and dropped them off at Good Will to make room for fresh entertainment that will surely come on Santa’s sleigh and we went shopping “for the girls and boys who are don’t have more toys.”
The Calgary Fire Department hosts a toy drive each year. The boys know the rules: they pick something out they really want Santa to bring them, and then they give it away. A couple of years ago that was a Tonka Garbage Truck and Helicopter.
So last night we went shopping for some toys. Zacharie picked a big Transformer Rescue Bots Firetruck and Charlie offered up a Power Rangers doll.
We stopped in at Firehall 29 to drop them off on the way home. And wouldn’t you know it? The other girls and boys will get toys, and my kids got to climb all over a firetruck.
Charlie screamed in glee when he got to flip the lights on while sitting in the driver’s seat.
Back in the Captain’s chair, Zacharie was checking out where the fire hydrants were located.
Zacharie ran around to the back seat making sure the hoses were ready with enough water pressure.
And then they got to the fire and both held the hose to put things out and save the day!!
Fire out, time to turn off the hoses!
So the boys helped out other kids and got a 30 minute private tour of a firetruck. That’s some good karma right there.
That’s how we do charity at Christmas around our house, how do you do it?
