Wanted for Christmas: Socks With No Holes- Shopping for the Kids (UPDATE #2)

Today my sister, Mara, my sister in-law Kat, the boys and I, went shopping for the impoverished kids in Mara’s second grade class.  Here is the original, Wanted for Christmas: Socks With No Holes post.

Mara had received enough donations of school supplies and books, we did not have to purchase any of those.  The little girl who needed a pencil to finish her homework will have plenty, and the boy who wanted some chapter books, will have a good supply of them.

The first section we went to in Wal-Mart, where the school district’s tax-id number is on file (so we wouldn’t have to pay tax for the items), was the sock section.  Mara has 11 boys in her class, and she wanted to make sure they each had two pairs of socks, so we bought three packages of 10-count socks.  She is going to give the little boy, whose plea to Santa for socks with no holes in them, the remaining eight pairs. 

Then we did the same for the girls- Mara has 15 girls in her class. We also bought some pretty headbands, rubber bands, and bows for their hair.  Kat was touched by the little girl who asked for a sparkly red dress, and wanted to personally buy the sparkly dress for her.  This little girl will be the princess, she wrote Santa about. 

Our next stop was the blanket section, where we picked up a red fleece blanket for the little girl who asked for a blanket because her house was so cold.  We also bought fleece hats and gloves for all the girls, and Batman and Cars hats and mittens for all the boys.  Mara said none of her kids have hats or gloves when they come to school. 

Then it was time to get them some toys.  We found a great deal for the girls- High School Musical Barbie Dolls.  Mara say the girls love High School Musical, and none of us are fans of the Bratz dolls, so this was a great alternative for them.

The boys got little hand held video games- we got an assortment of racing, soccer, basketball, football, and bowling.  We also picked out card games for the boys like Go Fish, Old Maid, and Crazy Eights.  They also got some rubber bouncy balls, that Mara says the boys love.  Mara also bought several soccer, and footballs for the class to play with at recess.  The school does not have any balls for the kids.  We also got recorders (the musical instrument) for every kid in the class. Mara says they have a few recorders when the kids have music, and most of them really liked playing it. We got some sidewalk chalk for the kids to draw with at recess.  We got the girls some lip gloss, and some Silly Putty for the boys.  

My sister is an excellent present wrapper. She always has the prettiest packages, so our next stop was the gift bag area, where we got blue gift bags for the boys, and red and green striped bags for the girls.  Then we were done.

As we waited in line, Mara showed us all of the gift cards that had generously been sent in to her- some from people out of state, whom she didn’t know.  Here is a picture of all of the gift cards:

I still hadn’t bought my gift card yet, so my sister gave me some items to just buy outright.  Kat and I paid for our purchases, and then helped unload the carts of gifts for the kids. When all the items had been brought, there was still a few gift cards left!  We couldn’t believe it, and we were all overwhelmed at the generousity of people-most who were strangers to us.

These are not easy economic times, and yet so many found a way to give something to these kids who have far less.  None of these people have ever met these kids.  They just heard they needed help, and they jumped into action to help. 

Even Ryan and Cole, who usually are bad shoppers (they just get bored and start fussing) seemed to be in the spirit. I can’t recall at time, I have taken them shopping when they have been so well behaved.  Ryan was not feeling himself either.  We were there for two hours, so it wasn’t a short trip by any means.  Ryan told me that we were lucky we had toys, and he liked shopping for Auntie Mara’s kids that didn’t have toys.  I could not have been more proud of them.  Here is a picture of them with Auntie Mara, in front of the carts:

Here are two more pictures of us shopping.  Thanks to a very nice shopper, we were able to get a picture of the three of us with the items, and then one of my sister and I:

  

Mara is going to assemble the gift bags this week, and then give them to her kids on Friday- the last day before Christmas break. She has invited the boys and I to come to her class for that so we can take pictures and meet the kids.  I want to see the little boy when he sees his 10 pairs of new socks.  I want us to see and share in the the smiles and joy that these kids will have when they realize that Santa heard and responded to their requests.

Ryan told me tonight as he was falling asleep that he would really like to go see the kids open their presents.  He asked if Santa was going to be there, and I told him Santa will not be able to be there in the class, but Santa has many, many helpers.  I told him Santa’s helpers were the reason we were able to get so many gifts for the kids, and Santa’s helpers will make the kids very happy.  He nodded his head and said, “That’s good Mommy. Santa’s helpers are good.”   

On behalf of Mara, and myself, thank you so much to everyone who was able to help these kids out this year, and thank you to all my wonderful readers who were able to help as well.  There just aren’t enough words to express the gratitude.  I will post pictures of the kids with their gifts, and once again, thank you for being one of Santa’s helpers.  🙂