What I Want For Christmas

By Laura Rogers
http://www.stoopinitinthesuburbs.blogspot.com/ 

My lofty ideals of the past and what I want for Christmas now has definitely changed over time. As a single mom of two teens, I have to keep it real.  I have always been an idealist, but a positive stark reality has taken over. That is not all bad either. I think the lessons learned in life and on my journey as a single mom have taught me my priorities in life. I have much more common sense than I did as a young mom and I feel proud of that.

We are living in a tough economy. Just one year ago I escaped a foreclosure on my home. This is the home that I was able to keep after a bitter, ugly divorce. This is the home my children have lived in for most of their lives.  I am so very grateful that US Bank worked with me to lower my home mortgage. I am sure that they felt safe since I have been employed with the same non profit for many years. I had like so many others, lost one of two great jobs.

My Christmas wish is that I can buy at least one gift for each of my children. One gift that they really want. My kids are teens, so they only want those "pricey gifts" that we single moms wince at.  In their defense, I have them begging me to go to consignment shops now.  Ahhhhhh.

I want to be able to pay all my bills all the way through the holiday season instead of the dreaded staggering pattern.  I know I am not the only mom that does this to stay afloat. Going paycheck to paycheck is a pretty common scenario in this economy of ours.

I work as a director at a non profit organization. I love getting up each and every day knowing that the work we do with families actually Saves families. I have such a caring and passionate staff and the volunteers are absolutely amazing. We help at risk families and children who are homeless, have a new start in life. Unfortunately, we are being furloughed during the holidays, so this rearranging of the little I do make, is being compromised once again.  I am grateful I have a job and know that others have issues far worse. I thank God for all I have.

I wish for Christmas that my children know how very much I love them and that money does not make life necessarily easy. In fact, at times when I have less than ten dollars left at the end of the month, we have spent more quality time  and laughed and smiled more than we did when we "Had" what we wanted.

My wish for Christmas is that each and every one of us can be conscious of those around us. During the holiday season, so many families struggle. Please look around you and do what you can to help. It may be just smiling at a mom in the grocery store when she is feeling overwhelmed as she shops.  Maybe you hear of someone close to you that can't afford Christmas dinner. I took over a complete thanksgiving dinner to a family in need.  Where is the need in your community?  Please, let's all pay it forward and remember when someone helped us at some point in our life.

You just never know how loved you can make someone feel at this holiday season.

Laura