{"id":696,"date":"2016-12-18T12:23:24","date_gmt":"2016-12-18T18:23:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gmachronicles.com\/?p=696"},"modified":"2019-06-07T15:44:13","modified_gmt":"2019-06-07T15:44:13","slug":"the-lesson-of-the-angel-tree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gmachronicles.com\/index.php\/the-lesson-of-the-angel-tree\/","title":{"rendered":"The Lesson of the Angel Tree"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

It seemed like a such a good idea at the time.<\/p>\n

So why was I standing in the aisle at Target, a genuinely clenched knot in my stomach, on the verge of panic? This was a terrible, terrible mistake.\u00a0 I must be an idiot. \u00a0\u00a0How can I get out of here without nuclear disaster?\"h-toy-aisle-target-12-16\"<\/p>\n

The signal for potentially impending doom came from my 5-year-old grandson, Buddy, who had dropped to his knees in front of a wide shelf of beguiling trinkets at the entrance to the toy aisles, two weeks before Christmas.\u00a0 Presented as potential stocking stuffers, I\u2019m sure, this array included temptations like shark hand-puppets, small footballs with lights inside, miniature Slinkys, and the like.\u00a0 Buddy perused the selection with excruciating longing.\u00a0 Head drooping forward slightly like Charlie Brown in despair, he grasped the shark puppet and said sadly, \u201cI think he would really like one of these.\u201d\u00a0 Then, in painful but brave acknowledgement of the objectives and terms of our outing, he says without rancor, \u201cI know we are not getting things for me, but I would like a slinky, some day.\u201d<\/p>\n

This last bit underscored his mother\u2019s success at the promised coaching in advance of this expedition.\u00a0 It was the annual opportunity to shop for a needy child identified by our office\u2019s Angel Tree.\u00a0 My hope, which now stared back at me like the Oscar Winner of Dumb Grandmother Ideas, was to make the most of it by bringing Buddy along.\u00a0 First, he could serve as peer consultant, helping select things that a boy his age would truly like; I had selected a tree tag showing the name and clothing sizes of another five-year-old.\u00a0 Second, I hoped to share with Buddy, even at his tender age, the genuine joy of giving back during the holiday season.<\/p>\n

Watching this acute desire and Charlie Brown head droop in the face of this massive pile of commercial temptation, I was furious with myself.\u00a0 This was too much to ask, he\u2019s too young.\u00a0 He\u2019s not going to understand, it\u2019s not fair to ask him, he might have a tantrum, and who could blame him?\u00a0 He says he gets it, but his expression says otherwise.<\/p>\n

What to do?\u00a0 Bolt now, before it gets worse?\u00a0 Fib a reason to get out of there, like a stomachache on my part, which at this point is not a fib?\u00a0 Before I seize one of these cowardly solutions, Buddy rises to his feet and proceeds deeper into Childhood Nirvana, forward in our shared mission.\u00a0 Deeply unsure of what to do now, as I so often seem to be with these children, I watch, and wait.<\/p>\n

And, it immediately does get worse.\u00a0 I follow him to a row of robots, caged in their boxes, eyes bright and forward, just waiting for a small boy to set them free to do whatever small robots do.\u00a0 He stares for a few long seconds, then sorrowfully snares one box, turns, and reaches up to hand it over, admitting, \u201cI KNOW he would really like one of these.\u201d\u00a0 He is not tearful, but I sense he is close.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not sure I can take more of this, but reality intervenes.\u00a0 That\u2019s really cool, I say of the $89 item, but that\u2019s out of our price range, Sweetheart.\u00a0 Remember, we already got him a coat and some clothes.\u00a0 Let\u2019s find some other good things, instead.<\/p>\n

Perhaps this practicality is liberating\u2014at least he will not have to watch me put it in the car and ponder another child receiving this mesmerizing item\u2014or maybe the heart of a five-year-old runs so much deeper than grown-ups can possibly imagine.\u00a0 Either way, Buddy rallies now.\u00a0 He finishes his selections with careful study and efficiency, but no discernible angst.\u00a0 A large set of Hot Wheels with tracks and a smaller set of Legos (with some super-hero theme) are shoved into the cart, and we start toward checkout.\u00a0 Hugely relieved, ashamed for doubting him, and generally being a doting G-ma, I tell him how proud I am.\u00a0 He has done a great job, and has been a huge help.\u00a0 In appreciation for those things, I suggest he select one item for himself and one for his sister from the stocking-stuffer section, and throw the miniature slinky in for good measure.\u00a0 This accomplished with great excitement, we are off to the car.<\/p>\n

Chatting as we head homeward, I decide to affirm the reality of the day with one more fact.\u00a0 He has been learning numbers in kindergarten, has begun to ask questions about money and cost, so I share sums of today\u2019s outlay:\u00a0 $139. \u00a0\u201cWhooooaaaaah,\u201d he answers in amazement.\u00a0 \u201cEvie, do you have a lot of money?\u201d\u00a0 I don\u2019t, I answer quickly, but I am very fortunate to have steady work, and a nice place to live like your mom and dad have worked hard to have for you and Sis, and enough to eat.\u00a0 And if we are lucky enough to have all those things, we must remember to share with others who don\u2019t have everything we have, especially this time of year.<\/p>\n

A quick glance in the rear-view mirror reveals he is nodding understanding.\u00a0 And then comes the best proof of how profoundly easy it can be to under-estimate children.\u00a0 And how compassion is native to the human spirit, beginning so early inside little hearts and bodies.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I grow up, I hope I have a lot of money,\u201d he begins, \u201cand then I could buy them\u2026\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0He pauses, and I wait for it:\u00a0 The robot?\u00a0 More Hot Wheels?\u00a0 Pok\u00e9mon?\u00a0 A motorized bike?\u00a0 And I nearly veer the car off the road when he concludes, \u201cI would buy them a home.\u201d<\/p>\n

And a little child shall lead them. *\u00a0 Peace on Earth to all.<\/p>\n

_____________________________________________________________<\/p>\n

*Isaiah 11:6:\u00a0 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatted calf together; and a little child shall lead them.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"h-lj-reindeer-cookies-12-15\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It seemed like a such a good idea at the time. So why was I standing in the aisle at Target, a genuinely clenched knot in my stomach, on the verge of panic? This was a terrible, terrible mistake.\u00a0 I must be an idiot. \u00a0\u00a0How can I get out of here without nuclear disaster? The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1698,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-696","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-grandkids"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmachronicles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/696","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmachronicles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmachronicles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmachronicles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmachronicles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=696"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gmachronicles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/696\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmachronicles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmachronicles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmachronicles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmachronicles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}