"THAT'S WHAT CHRISTMAS IS, RIGHT MOM?"

I love Christmas. I always have. I don’t see the holiday as most people do. It’s not commercialized for me and I don’t dread spending time with my family. In fact, I could do without gifts, so long as I have my family around me for Christmas.

My daughter is seven years old. She’s probably the most kind-hearted person I have ever met. After Hurricane Sandy she emptied her closet, washed her clothes and went with me to drop off locations to donate them.

On Monday, the 17th, the first wrapped presents showed up under our Christmas tree. It’s something I do every year. If my children behave well, they will find another gift with their name on it under the tree. My daughter found on with her name on it and frowned.

When she got home from school that day, she quietly went into her room, closed her door and stayed in there for hours. After a while she opened her door, and had two garbage bags full of clean, gently used toys.

Me: What’s this?
Her: I’m giving them away. I have a home and some other kid doesn’t. The least I could do is share my toys. That’s what Christmas is, right?

I was speechless! Here is a seven year old... my seven year old behaving selflessly. Doing something, not that would benefit her, but that would make someone else incredibly happy.

We as adults so often forget how to do this. We get so caught up in the shopping, fighting, bickering and politicizing of the holiday that we forget what Christmas really is about. We forget to look outward.

Gandhi once said “If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. ... We need not wait to see what others do.” Could you imagine what the world would be like if everyone saw it through the eyes of an innocent, selfless child?

Look, I know the holidays are hard on a lot of people. It makes some of us sad and depressed and most of us cannot wait to get them over with. I’m not trying to push my holiday cheer on anyone. But there is always something special about remembering what the magic of Christmas really is. So today, Christmas Eve, me and my special little seven year old will go to the toy donation centers and drop off her donation. If only to make it so that she can keep that little bit of magic going a while longer.

As Casey has said many times... sometimes it's not a Yankee "thing" you want to chat about here at BYB... it's a life thing.  Merry Christmas.

--Erica Morales, BYB Writer
Twitter: @e_morales1804




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