The Busyness of Simple Giving

Sigh.
I had intended to update in bits and spurts about my 29 Day Gift Giving Challenge, but that Busyness Demon kept getting in the way. He tried, in fact, to keep me too busy to think about the gift giving commitment itself, but he tried in vain. The better Spirit prevailed. I stand solidly on day 6, more committed than I was at the beginning.

So here’s a brief  update  novel summarizing the first  4 days of simple gifts.

Day 1

This was an easy one since we had previously planned the family birthday party for Miss Whimsy to coincide with Easter weekend, and I had given myself permission in advance to count such gifts in my 29 days.

So I did.

Day 2

In truth, Saturday presented many opportunities to claim a similar prior plan. Crazy as it may sound, Saturday night, smack dab in the middle of Easter weekend, our school hosted the Junior/Senior Prom. (I know… I know… I was incredulous as well…)

Now, technically I could have counted the dress… or the hair… or the nails… or the pre- prom dinner that we cooked and served to her little group… or any number of indulgences surrounding the Cinderella Story. But I didn’t. Let’s face it: the Princess Project is as much a gift to the Queen as it is to the Princess. That would be cheating.

I did, however, figure out a way to combine the prom festivities with my giving challenge, and I did it on the Red Carpet that our school hosts as the Cinderellas head into the ball. In true paparazzi fashion, I hailed down every couple for whom I have a matching mom’s email address (quite a few) and asked them to pose for a picture on the runway. Then I emailed the pictures to their moms, who might or might not have made it to the runway themselves. In truth, the heart of my gift was not merely the picture, but the acknowledgement that I, too, had bothered to notice her Cinderella or Prince Charming on that runway that night.

Day 3

This was Easter Sunday, and I was admittedly having a little gift giving frustration this year. I am a very traditional person. The girls have had the same Easter baskets for as long as they can remember. As they got older, I started the tradition of buying them a new spring pocketbook to go with a lesser offering in the Easter basket. It works for us. Usually, we browse the favorite Purse Paradise, and they point out a few pretties which catch their eyes.

Shiny Purses of 2009

 Not this year. Oh, we browsed, but neither daughter seemed to spot a single purse that she liked enough to justify the expense. This is not good when Little Debbie is already crouched on the edge of Meltdown Mountain. And a gift isn't just something that you "check" off a list.

Then I remembered something that they each wanted. And so I took a boot- sized step out of the Easter box, or basket in this case.

We purchased and filled up these rain boots instead of the basket.

 I’m still not sure how I like the basketless Easter, to be honest. But it made the girls chuckle. And so I call this gift #3.

Day 4

I woke up on Day 4, totally tuckered and without a plan. Now, a lesson learned from the 2008 Challenge  was that often giving requires the stepping out of the comfort zone of your own house and mingling with the pubic. There, you will undoubtedly find a gift giving opportunity.

So I went to Walmart. Oh yes, I did.

Risky, I know. But I had exactly three things that I needed to get, one of which was a gallon of milk. When milk is not on sale at the grocery store, I buy it at Walmart. So off I went…

And the minute that I got to the parking lot, Little Debbie started her wokkkkking. It was already crowded, and I was having trouble finding a parking place. What threatened to set off the irk~o~meter was the number of spaces which would have been available, had some lazy Person of Walmart not plopped his cart willy nilly the middle of it.

And just as Little Debbie was about to go on a mental tirade, I “got” it. And I turned it into gift number 4. Parking my car at the back of the parking lot, I proceeded to collect every wayward cart and haul it to the cart return. The last one, I pushed into the store.. the wobble wheel leading the way. After I finished my shopping there, I headed to both grocery stores on the way home and did the same thing.

Whew. Attitude adjustment, gift giving, AND exercise all in one.

I have a gift to report from yesterday, but since this is already way too long, and since the gift was for Miss Whimsy… and she hasn’t discovered it yet… I’ll wait to include it with the next update.

Which will hopefully be more like the CliffsNotes than the novel.