being santas helper

i feel like i have a pretty good grip on staying on top of the toys in our playroom. or should i say room(s) because it seems like we have toys in every room. always before the next rush of birthday or christmas gifts come in, the boys and i sort through what doesn't get played with anymore. we still have way too many toys to play with. it makes me sad to pack up the toys that don't get played with. maybe they rest in the garage sale box until the summer, or sometimes they get put into the donate box and go to charity. i guess i read the velveteen rabbit too many times, because it really does make me sad to send (i can't even call them unwanted) the unplayed and outgrown toys away.

but today i had an idea. it seemed like we had baskets of small toys laying around. some mcdonalds toys, a few books that never get read, leftover favors from birthday parties ect. i collected them all into one big basket and then started sorting the small toys into categories. i went to my stash of cello gift bags and grabbed some fun polka-dot ones. my favorite part of christmas (the gift part that is, i do like christmas for other reasons too) are all the small gifts in my stocking. so i thought it would be fun to package up these small toys into little gift bags. i will donate these this week to a church shelter. these gifts will be waiting for 'santa' to pick up and tuck into a needy child's stocking. and on christmas morning the children and these toys in their new homes will be surprised and happy.

it feels so good to be able to help 'santa' in this way. small gifts, that do add up when you go out to buy them, already packaged up. hopefully making christmas a little more special for those in need. i am not sure where the tears come from that are rolling down my cheeks as i write this. is it because it really does feel good to give, is it that these small toys, all packaged up, look really cute, or is it that i feel guilty that my children are so blessed to have what they have? maybe it is a little bit of everything and maybe i am just happy that these toys will be finding a new home in a few days.