As has become a tradition with our children, we are again filling shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child - a mission that our home church supports with vigor.
- In 2014, we filled three boxes, one for each of our children: 2014
- In 2012 and 2013, (maybe years previous, I can't remember and didn't blog!), we filled two boxes, one for each child: 2012/2013
Today at church, I saw our missions team had set out the red and green shoe boxes sent by Samaritan's Purse and, eager to get the boxes done before baby comes and I get overwhelmed, I told the kids to get three. Xavier, always quick to remind me that he's getting a brother said, "Don't you mean four Mom? There's four kids soon."
He wins. I lose. Yes, get FOUR shoe boxes, children.
We are doing a boy and girl box in the 5-7 year old category and a boy and girl box in the 2-4 year old category (the youngest category there is).
The boxes were on my mind all day and I knew I couldn't relax until I got them checked off my mental to-do list. After lunch and an afternoon with family at my folks' we loaded up and went off to fill them. A friend had shared THIS ARTICLE last week and it's suggestions and practical tips were a really good guide for me while shopping this year. Some of the suggestions in it that we followed this year included:
- No stuffed animals, stickers, coloring books with "characters." I'd never thought about how different animals are viewed in other cultures, nor that the characters we know over in the USA others might find offensive or confusing. We opted for coloring books with people, animals, and trucks in them and books with more "real life" pictures in them.
- Soap cases and protective cases for toothbrushes.
- Plain shirts (easy to find for the big kids' boxes - Mia's has a pattern but no characters or words that might be confusing or offensive.)
- Soccer ball for Xavier's box and jump rope for Natalee's. The Dollar Tree had ball pumps which made the overall cost of the soccer ball/pump not as intimidating.
- No cards (memory, etc.). We chose easy to use toys this year and sent flashlights with extra batteries in ALL four boxes!
With those things in mind, off we went to shop.
I ran into Dollar General first and grabbed flip flops in appropriate sizes for all four boxes. Sometimes Dollar Tree has them (they did) but I can't always bank on it and wanted to make sure we had them. At Dollar Tree we first got the hygiene items:
- bar soap
- toothbrush/paste
- hair brushes/combs
- hair accessories (girls)
With four boxes to fill we did do some buying of larger packages and splitting them up when we got home. This is a little controversial as some people say it's not "new" if it's been opened. Truthfully, it seems silly to send a package of 12 combs to one little boy and so we did open and baggy up a few items like this. All we can do is pray they'll be received in the love they were sent and go on.
The big kids each chose a solid colored t-shirt to add to their boxes and Xavier also chose a hat. We then went to toys. I was impressed by their thoughtfulness. Natalee chose sparkly pom poms, dress up jewelry, a barbie type doll, pony beads (we added string to lace them on when we got home), and we had a new jump rope tucked away at home to put in her box.
Xavier chose a four wheeler and knew we were getting the soccer ball (Mike has to pick it up at a different Wal Mart tomorrow) so was trying to save room for it. We'll deflate it and send the pump to re-inflate it when it arrives. That article I linked basically says if you send a ball there's no need to send much else for toys - all the boys want a soccer ball!
We had trouble finding a small doll at either Dollar Tree or Wal Mart with light brown skin so eventually chose a light skinned, soft, sweet, easy to love dolly. Ameliya and baby 4 are also sending their kids harmonicas, and balls - a football for the boy and a pink ball for the girl. We tucked a package of cars into baby #4's box, too.
After toys we went and chose water bottles for all 4 boxes and flashlights with extra batteries. Then we went to books. We explained to the kids how the children receiving the boxes don't really understand and might even be scared by characters and both big kids understandingly chose coloring books with real images - trucks for X and Bible characters (people/animals) for N. Granny Sara said she has new boxes of crayons for all the boxes and scissors for the big kids' boxes so we didn't buy any today.
I chose "God Made" books for the little ones' boxes - there are short sentences but the pictures are big, bright and beautiful so hopefully the words won't offer a distraction and the books can be enjoyed.
We then snagged a package of 6 manual pencil sharpeners and a big package of sparkly pencils to split and baggy when we got home. We pre-sharpened the pencils but sent the sharpeners so they can be re-sharpened. Natalee chose a large notebook for her girl and Xavier chose a package of smaller ones that we split among the other three boxes.
At Wal-Mart we snagged soap cases and washcloths and were hoping to score the soccer ball but they were sold out.
When we got home I also got out a few of the extra baggies from the busy bag exchange we did recently to add to the little ones' boxes. I am printing pictures of the activities "assembled" to give the parents an idea of what to do with them and hope they are well liked!
This was the excitement and mess when we got home!
I'm afraid we may have overfilled the smaller red/green boxes but I'm reaching out to grandparents for bigger boxes to put our collections in.
For tonight we needed to eat supper and go to bed so we ended up sorting and bagging each child's items to pack another time. I'll post when we get them packed so you can see how we crammed it all in each box!
From the left - teal and pink washcloths, pom poms, barbie, toothbrush with case, bar soap in box, hair brush, baggy of pencils/sharpener, water bottle, costume jewelry, pink t-shirt sitting under soap case and flashlight, pink flip flops, hair ties, pony beads. She's displaying her coloring book. Not pictured: notebook, jump rope, crayons, scissors.
Left to right...coloring book, 4 wheeler, ball pump, toothbrush/paste in case, blue hat, blue-grey t-shirt, combs, bar soap in box, green flip flops, water bottle, baggy of pencils/sharpener, soap case with 2 wash cloths rolled in it, giraffe notebook. Not pictured: soccer ball, crayons, scissors.
Left to right: purple flip flops, toothbrush/paste in case, harmonica, baggy of pencils/sharpeneer, water bottle, hair ties, light up ball, flashlight with batteries, picture book, bar soap/case, notebook, dolly, combs, wash cloths, wild tank top. The flashlights we picked do have characters on them (though we talked Xabe out of the ninja turtle one since they have weapons). Mia REALLY wants to keep her Minnie Mouse one that's going in her box...first lesson on giving. Not pictured: bead/lacing busy bag, crayons.
Baby #4's box: Felt ice cream busy bag, wash cloths, water bottle, notebook, combs, baggy of pencils/sharpener, picture book, flip flops, cars, flashlight with extra batteries, toothbrush/paste with case, football, harmonica, bar soap/case. Not pictured: crayons
I'm hoping to find a t-shirt for his box, too.
I was generous with putting things in baggies to keep them clean, tidy and organized when they get to their destination.
I'd love to challenge my readers to think about doing a box. This year we are averaging about $20-22/box, including the $7 shipping cost. It does add up - we anticipated this coming, though, and had set aside a budget to complete the task. When you think about this being ALL the recipients get all year long, it's really very humbling. This is it - the flip flops, the dolly...the things our American kids get as "treats" when we shop are the treasures that the little recipients keep and care for for many years to come. No guilt - but it's something to think on. :)
Updated post to come when we get them packed, add our letters and our family pictures to them!!
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