Dear Santa ... 2012 ... Family Thoughts

Our family does, in fact, know that there is no Santa.

They also know that the economy is quite bad and people are struggling everywhere - many struggle as much and many more than we do.

They also know that the best gift you can give is to love and care for each other and the joy of celebrating Jesus coming to earth as a man to die on the cross to pay for our sins.


I will soon be concentrating on getting Christmas cards out the door.  With school on the back burner all summer, we will not have the luxury of six weeks off for Christmas to make and package and decorate.  There are a few plans for spa baskets, MP3 disks, and maybe some Service Coupons.  Maybe we can even manage to fix some cookies or breads.


Anyway, the point is that the "Dear Santa" posts are NOT a plea for help or an expected list or begging  ... just some ideas for those few who do tend to buy for us.  The kids rooms are crowded and quite small, so they don't have room for big items or items that they don't enjoy.   Nor do they expect others to be mind readers - hence the Dear Santa posts.

I do have a tiny Christmas budget this year .... though my practical side says we should either put it into food and vitamins OR pay it out on the AC repairs from last summer.   My practical side and my fun side rarely get along.



The thing is ... for a family like ours, living below the poverty line, Christmas and birthdays and other celebrations can be overwhelming and somewhat depressing.  The rest of the time, we make do and life just keeps going.   God has provided for us in many amazing miraculous ways over the past 4 1/2 years.

What we have or don't have - has nothing to do with how happy we are.   I get "down" at Christmas not because of what I don't have or cannot afford, not nearly as much as, I WANT to give to others and have not figured out how to do so in a manner than is helpful to others.  I suppose a great deal of that is rooted in pride ... I want people to like what we give them and give positive feedback.


But there are thousands of families in our shoes - and much worse.   My heart goes out to those who struggle, even more knowing how we struggle.  So what would be a practical gift for a struggling family in general?  (While I'm going to use my family for ideas here ...  this will be true of many families here in the USA this year - maybe you know others in the same boat we are in?)


I'm going to do a similar post on my Eagle Nest Blog ... and I'll go into a lot more detail there - but as this is only a family blog now, I'll just mention things that might help others because I know they are areas that we have been blessed to have extra help.   And we are VERY THANKFUL for this help!
Food
Gas/ Car/ Insurance -
Home Repairs or Weather Proofing -
Clothes -
Bug Spray or Traps -
Garden or Landscaping -
Family "toy" -
Date Night -
School Money / Supplies
One on One Time with a child
Bills
Home Upgrades






For our family specifically - and this is mostly for relatives who want to ask ... "What would help the most because we'll be getting you something no matter what.".

Tim needs new clothes that fill well for the job interviews that he goes to, even if they are few and far between.  Keeping the car going is another huge concern for him.

Rachel needs new tennis shoes, and some new winter pants.  ---   My Amazon wish list is full of wishes ... but it is almost all stuff that I can borrow or live without.    I just don't live at a "high need" level.   Meat in my freezer would be HUGE for me.   Oh ... and printer ink to  print school assignments.

Kendra needs a new Bible - a Good KJV study Bible.   She also could really use someone to come help her get her room arranged neatly.  And she is hoping someone can teach her or help her figure out how to use her knitting machine.   She can follow the instructions for use - but there is not any instructions for loading the yarn onto the machine - and what she has done so far isn't coming out right.

Vannan needs a good alarm clock and new tennis shoes.  She also would be quite overjoyed to get some of the DoTerra oils that help control her asthma without side effects - a diffuser would be amazing.  She would also LOVE to get back to her violin lessons again, and maybe piano lessons as well.

Joel doesn't currently NEED anything.   But he would LOVE the Magic School Bus DVD sets, and a way to get our TV to work so he can watch them.  He would also love his own REAL tools (and a chance to learn how to use them).   Joel owns his own recharging unit for batteries - but his batteries that we bought to go with it have disappeared - so more rechargeable batteries.  He Loves his electronic toys, even if he is outgrowing most of them.  Also - Uniform storage in his room to help him keep it neat, and a helping hand to clean and organize his room.

LaRue's BIG WISH is that Innotab 2 - the Pink one ... WITH a camera built in  and  WITH the plug to use with it, so it doesn't eat batteries.  .   I know it is a huge purchase.  Otherwise, she only asks for snacks - boxes of raisins, crackers, cereals, dried fruits, animal crackers, and the like ... big packages.

Actually - snacks excite ALL of the kids - they get plenty to eat, but not much for snacks.


Assuming you have looked at their wish lists .... you have probably noticed and wonder why is it that every single one of them is wishing for a Tablet computer?   Because every kid they know has one!  And those that do not have a tablet have phones or similar gadgets.   My family has always LOVED gadgets.  So these devices are fascinating to them.    Would they share if one was given to all 3 of them?   Probably, after a month or two, and assuming that it had a really good case to keep it safe.   ....   And since we already live without one, not getting one would not be heart breaking.   ...  We are assuming that we can plug one into our Wi-fi?  or load from our computers?  ...  They are not asking for iPads ... most of them have very low end ones on their lists, and they do understand that the quality will not be as high as an iPad.

Visits and Christmas cards ...  always make ALL of our month - we LOVE cards with nice long and fun "what is going on with you" type letters.

A working TV!   Ours works "fine" but the clicker has gone missing.  We only use it to watch VCR/DVDs and need it on channel 3.  But it is stuck on channel 41 or something like that.  I thought we had carefully matched up all the clickers with their assigned units when we moved it all next door - but I had 2 extra clickers, and neither go to the TV.   It doesn't have to be big or fancy or new.... or even flat screened.   Replacing the clicker would be great too ... or just getting it to go to channel 3!