I remember the year my dad told us we were going to have to give up our Hess trucks. Apparently this is a New York thing (or at least a Northeast thing), but Hess trucks were THE toy to get every Christmas.
Being told we had to hand over the Hess prize for some poor little kid who wasn't getting a visit from Santa was kind of like being told the big guy didn't exist. My brother and I were devestated.
Weeding through my daughter's toy box for stuff to drop at the used toy exchange for the needy kid, I decided I'd give her a bye another year. She needs to learn about giving to others, but at three, I'm willing to limit the lesson to helping me make the food delivery to the local pantry. She doesn't need to learn the toy lesson just yet.
To be honest, we never really gave up our toys. In the habit of picking up a couple extra Hess trucks every year in case my grandmother ran short on her usual list of gifts, my Dad had extras stashed away right next to the two set aside for my brother and I. When he learned a local family was in need of some holiday cheer, he pulled from his stash and asked my Mom to do the wrapping.
He told us we'd be making a difference for little boys who might not get much else that year. He told us just how proud he was of us for being so giving. We weren't perfect; even hindsight won't color me an angel. I was a little kid, and I had little kid thoughts. But I remember the pain ebbed as quickly as it came. We watched little boys tear open the wrapping paper and drive those trucks around the room, "vroooming" like it was nobody's business, and we didn't once complain. Of course, we had our trucks under the tree on Christmas morning, my dad just grinning like he'd pulled off the Christmas caper.
He did something; he made me remember it. He turned out a kid who makes sure she does the angel tree and the toy exchange, drops food off at the pantry when she has a few dollars to spare. It's a tradition I don't just want to pass on to my daughter - I will. Because corny and hokey as it is, that's still my version of the Christmas spirit. This year, we'll do the food drop-off together. I'll give the toys she no longer uses a good scrubbing while she's asleep and drop them in the toy bin while she's at school.
Maybe next year, she'll be ready for us to do it together. And who knows, maybe I'll hold back one toy to slip under the tree - a treat for the kid who makes me proud.
Image: Hess Toy Store
Related Posts:
XBox Writes Santa Letter for Your Kids
Santa Shortage Strikes Germany
