VDV Four Advent Day 13: See Santa and Give 3 Gifts

This day was a special day. It was one of our giving days and I was looking forward to it since the start of our Advent fun. I really want to teach the boys about the joy in giving. So, sometime in November, I got Bug to pick out 3 of his favourite books. Then we purchased brand new ones and wrapped them for 3 special kids we would pick at the mall when we went to see Santa. In the morning when he opened his advent bag, we started talking about what we were going to do when we got to the mall. I told him that he got to pick 3 kids to give a gift to, so he had to be on the watch for the children once we were inside. The very first kid we saw, Bug loudly said "Mom! Look, it's a kid!" He was so excited to give a present...I was so very proud of him. The meaning of our day was quickly realized by Bug, and thoroughly enjoyed! The last little girl we gave a present to, came up to us shortly after with her Grampa to give Bug a hug. It was the sweetest thing ever. This Mommy VDV may have had a few tears in her eyes.

In each book, I wrote a letter explaining what the present was for. It said:

• Our family does an Advent activity every day from December 1st until December 24th to celebrate the holidays. Bug and Bear are 4.5 and 1.5 years old, and this year we have added more giving activities to help teach the boys that the holidays are much more than about receiving and that there is so much joy in giving. This year, one of our activities is what Bug has chosen you for. I gave him 3 presents he got to bring to the mall with him, and he chose you to give one of these gifts to. Bug loves getting read to, so this year we picked out three of his favourite books and bought a brand new one to give to you. We hope you enjoy them just as much as he does. Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year.

I also got Bug to write a quick little note just to get some more practice with his writing.

In between our gift giving, the boys got to go sit with the jolly red man himself. I was worried about how Bear would do, as some days he plays strange. He may not have smiled, but at least he wasn't screaming!

Francis, this morning was found in an altercation with Spiderman.