Months ago, a friend of mine reached out to me about Christmas. She had something in mind, and she really wanted to give my children gifts. She asked if that would be ok, and I of course said yes! She ran a list of animals by me and asked me to choose one for each child. So I did, and that was the last I heard of it. By the time December came around, I remembered our conversations and wondered if she had gone forward with her plan. I certainly wasn’t about to send some “So, did you get my kids presents” message, so I put it to the back of my mind. But she remembered, and very casually asked if she could drop them off sometime around Christmas. We picked a date, and she popped over when it suited us.
Guys. Have you heard of Cuddle + Kind? You should look it up online. Its this beautiful company who donates meals to children with the sale of every stuffed toy. The general idea is “1 doll = 10 meals.” You should really read up on it yourselves, I’m not going to do it justice. Neither will the pictures. These are some of the softest, most beautiful stuffed toys we’ve ever had in our possession.
Dekker got a puppy names Noah.
Laela got a unicorn named Zoe.
Rowan got a llama named Lucas.
Solomon got a penguin names Everest.
Waverly got a mermaid named Skye.
(Waverly also learned how to say “mermaid.” She plays with her toy in her bed and says it over and over again. “Mermaid. Mermaid!”)
Because so many toys were purchased on my children’s behalf, along with some extra goodies, a total of 150 meals were donated. It feels pretty wonderful to know that not only are the people making the toys being paid fairly, but that there are donations happening beyond that. Aaaand for someone to include my children in that is honouring and humbling and such a special teaching moment.
As always, I continue to feel SO grateful for our little village, who chooses to love my family.