Thankful

In preparation for putting up the tree, our living room needed a major overhaul.  Most of Punky's toys are in there and, despite the various boxes, bins, tables, and shelves designated for toy storage, they usually end up scattered all over the room.  A colleague of mine once mentioned that she keeps her boys' toy levels in check by asking them to donate an old toy to charity every time they receive a new toy.  What a brilliant idea.

I always tell Punky how lucky we are because I want her to grow up appreciating what she does have instead of focusing on what she doesn't.  We may not have the best of everything but we have food to eat, a warm house, toys to play with, and a little bit of extra money to do something special now and then. That's more than a lot of people can say these days.

Last Friday night, Punky and I sat on the floor in front of her toy box and had a heart-to-heart chat.  I told her that Santa will be bringing her new toys soon, so maybe it's time to go through her old toys and give some to little kids that aren't as lucky as she is, etc.  I know she didn't understand my entire speech, it's just not possible, but she helped me sort her toys into piles based on what she still plays with and things she never touches.

I set aside a few special baby toys to keep, of course, but the rest of the rattles and such simply had to go.  Honestly, they should have gone a year ago.  Together we picked out several more toys to give away and I wondered if she understood that she wouldn't ever see them again.

When we finished sorting, we put all the keepers back into the toy box and loaded the rest into bags.  I held the bag open while Punky stuffed things in without showing any hint of sadness whatsoever.  The last toy destined for the bag was a cute little bear that plays music and says simple phrases.  She hesitated for a second but grabbed him off the couch.  She held him in front of her, looked him in the eye, gave him a kiss, and said, "Bye-bye, bear." 

Then she stuffed him in the bag and asked to watch an Elmo video.

I wiped the tears from my eyes as I started the DVD and bent down to kiss her beautiful little face.  For her, I am most thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving to all.