Secret Santa's

A few weeks ago, I took the kids to the mall where Pathways had set up a Secret Santa shop. What you did was create a list for each child which outlined who they were to buy presents for (so Aidan's list looked like this: Mom, Dad, Quinn (age 3), Shannon (age 14 months). You then gave the child some money (I gave both boys $20) and they went into the Secret Santa shop with an 'Elf' who helped them, and bought gifts for the people on the list. They came out with bags full of wrapped and labeled gifts. All the proceeds from the Secret Santa shop go to Pathways which is a healthcare centre which provides services to children in need.

The boys had so much fun doing this, and couldn't wait to have everyone open the gifts. Well on Saturday night I finally succumbed and we opened all the Secret Santa gifts. It was absolutely adorable to watch the kids give us (and each other) the gifts because they were just so proud of the gifts and so excited to see if we would like them.

Here is what they got:
Shannon:
From Aidan: A blanket (because he wanted to get her something she could use all the time) and a rattle
From Quinn: A puppy pull-toy

Me:
From Aidan: A ceramic Santa (because he knows how much I love Christmas decorations)
From Quinn: A ceramic Snowman (which he just couldn't keep secret because he kept telling me about my 'snowman' that was wrapped!)

Chris:
From Aidan: An old-fashioned straw container filled with straws (for Daddy's beer, as Aidan exclaimed when Chris opened it!)
From Quinn: A heavy-duty flashlight

Aidan:
From Quinn: A Bob the Builder toy

Quinn:
From Aidan: Crayola Paint scribblers (because Aidan knows how much Quinn likes crafts)

I think Quinn was still a bit young for this type of exercise, but he loved it nonetheless. Aidan on the other hand TOTALLY got it, and was so proud of all the gifts, and had to explain the logic of each gift once they were opened. It was sooooo sweet!

Chris and I have really been trying to explain to the kids the concept of "'tis better to give than receive" and I really think that this helped hammer that home. I asked Aidan after it was done how he felt to see how much we liked his presents and how special the presents made us feel and he said: "Mummy it was awesome! When can we do it again?!"