Christmas Jar

I started thinking about Christmas this summer, like I usually do.  What can I say?  Christmas is my favorite holiday.  This year we will be snuggled up inside our very own house with our very own fireplace and a brand new baby.  I am really looking forward to it.  I have had my christmas lights and christmas tree ornaments bought and in storage for months now.  Joel will take the kids to a local Christmas tree farm where they can cut down their very own tree for about twenty bucks.  I will bake as much as I feel like baking with a new baby on my hip, and we might even get some visits from treasured family members!  It will be a perfect Christmas season.  

The kids are starting to get older and in July I started brainstorming ways to make the holiday more meaningful for them.  As a child I never cared too much about any spiritual events that happened.  All I wanted was to get to the presents!  It was fun to watch people open what I'd purchased for them and it was fun to see what surprises I had.

I thought it might be nice to help another family every year, starting this Christmas.  We have been so blessed this year.  The kids really don't need any more toys (though I have my eye on a few good ones, believe me) and Joel and I are just happy to spend some good family time together.  

But how do I get the kids involved?  They don't have jobs.  They don't even have allowance.  The only thing they could make for someone is a semi-legible drawing.  They are too shy to really befriend someone they don't know, and singing Christmas carols is out of the question.

Then, my wonderful Grandma gave me a fantastic idea.  She suggested that the kids save nickels and dimes by doing extra chores.  YES!  This is something my kids can handle!

And so, our Christmas Jar was born.  In August we had a special family home evening where we discussed the jar and the meaning behind it.  The kids do extra chores periodically and earn a quarter or so.  So far they have a few dollars saved up!  They won't have tons of money by the time Christmas rolls around but they will have enough to pick out one toy each for a child who needs it.  Joel and I can fill in for whatever else we need to get.

Ashley and Everett love thinking of things to get for the children they imagine.  Their decisions are always based on whatever toy they personally think is the coolest.

They frequently talk about the jar.

And to my surprise, they express nothing but excitement at spending that money on someone else (of course, this may be a different story once we go to actually buy the presents, but that kind of experience probably counts in the "character building" category, right?).

I am excited, too.  If this works well, we will do this every year with increasing results.  If we start at the beginning of the year rather than mid-summer, maybe it will be something the kids will think about all during the year.

And if it doesn't work, we'll think of something else next year.  But what a happy thing to try!