Halloween is Over!

Which means that the Holidays are just around the corner! Woo Hoo! Which also means you guys can all quit complaining about my Christmas Tree countdown on my sidebar! Look only 53 days til Christmas!!

I love this time of year. Even here in Florida. While my daughter is over there whining about no snow, to me it doesn't matter whether it is icy and cold, it is the feeling, the closeness, that only seems to come around this time of year.

Why is that? Why is it only this time of year are people feeling generous? Why not in July when food banks are out of food, or soup kitchens are short volunteers to help serve?

We do an Adopt-A-Family Program, where I work. Our program participants complete a Wish List. One for each child and one for the parent (usually a mom). We then find local residents, companies, other organizations who "adopt" the family and buy the items on the list. Including wrapping paper, bows, ribbon, etc. We even have one individual who purchases a holiday meal for every single family in our programs. (35 at this time) All the items are then brought into our Administration office.

The unwrapped gifts are given to the family. Mom gets to wrap the gifts for the children. This way they are from her and she knows what they are. The children wrap the gifts for mom. We pull them aside and have a wrapping party. You should see the faces of these woman and children when they see the piles of items waiting for them. On more than one occasion we have had complete breakdowns, of both staff and participants.

All of this is done with complete confidentiality also. The people buying the gifts do not have the name of who they are buying for. All they get is the sex, age and the Wish List. Nothing more.

I am always amazed at the generosity of people for the Holidays. This place looks like North Pole Central! Tables of gifts line our halls, we have piles of gifts in our offices!

The one small item that seriously irritates me, though, is that many people do not believe teenagers should have a Christmas. We have a terrible time collecting Christmas gifts for our teenagers. People want to buy for small children, but don't they understand that teens are just as important? Teens need to feel that they are loved, accepted and wanted as much as smaller children. They also need that feeling of wonderment and warmth that is this time of year.

We began adopting out families three weeks ago. Now, you understand why I begin thinking of Christmas long before Halloween is over.