All I Want For Christmas…
… is nothing.
Okay… I want world peace and an end to famine, war, discrimination, pain, suffering and the other usual fodder of beauty pagent contestants. (Cuz you KNOW I’m beauty queen material with the dark circles under my eyes, spare tire round my middle, and ass that jiggles as I strut to the store to buy more chips… I’m beauty, baby, and nothing but…)
Seriously though. I have everything I want and need. Two great kiddos (even if one could stand to sleep a little a lot more,) a spouse who adores me and whom I adore in return, a great family back home: I’ve got it all. Sure, I’d like there to be less animosity between certain family members and I’d like to have my children closer to their grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. All in all though, we’ve got a wonderful life. A cashmere sweater won’t improve things. A Wii won’t bring me greater happiness. I’m not going to feel more complete with a gift set from the Body Shop.
Beauty pagent jokes aside, what I want, what I really, really want (are you listening, Spice Girls?) is a better world for my children. That’s kind of hard to stuff in a stocking or put in a bag under the tree. But when I sit and think about what I want… that’s it. A safer, cleaner, healthier, more intelligent world.
Here in our home, we are trying to keep the focus of the holidays on sharing, caring, and fun. We’re doing lots of Christmas activities together– baking, crafting, reading, playing– and building traditions. We are giving each other gifts, but small ones. And we’re trying to ensure that the gifts we give leave small footprints and, as often as possible, are handmade. I’m not mailing packages abroad; instead, I’ve donated a sum of money to the Thomas Center in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in honour of my friends and family.
And I want to extend my Christmas activities to you, my readers. Many of you I know personally. Some of you I have never met. But all of you contribute to my blogging experience and a FABULOUS experience it is!
So, I’m offering a giveaway. My grandmothers, both the one in Canada and the one in the UK, have sent me money for Christmas. I want to use the money to help improve the lives of people who haven’t been as fortunate in their life circumstances as I have been. Enter, ChristmasFuture.
ChristmasFuture is an incredible organization that offers a revolutionary new way to give. How it works is this: I give money through my ChristmasFuture account. You log in and accept it, though you never receive it. You simply decide to which of ChristmasFuture’s partner organizations the money should be channeled. 100% of the donated funds end up in the development project you choose. Projects range from gender equality initiatives to midwifery training, agricultural development to vaccinations. It makes the process of giving more interactive: the donor and recipient get to see where their money is going. It’s a brilliant concept.
So, every day, from now until Christmas Day, I will be giving a $10 gift card to ChristmasFuture away to one of my readers. On Christmas Day I will give a bonus $60 gift card. You will get to decide where the funds will go. Will you choose to fund a leadership program in Nicaragua? A nursery school in Uganda? Potato-growing in Pakistan? I look forward to finding out.
To enter, simply leave a comment on this or future posts telling me what you most want for Christmas. There are 14 days, so 14 chances to win. Beginning tomorrow, I’ll randomly select a daily winner.
Please enter often and spread the word! Join me in the spirit of the season!
*** Remember to include your email address in the appropriate box– no one but me can see this and I will need it to contact you!
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Pick me! Pick me!
Ooops, I didn’t read the directions. LOL What I want most is for everyone on the planet to move into alignment with their Higher Self.
I want a large sack of Premium Gold Nuggets. And world peace.
Liz´s last blog post..ReMeesed. 2008.
Wow! Thank you so much. This is really cool. I’ve tweeted this in hopes of bringing more traffic to your site.
I should be disqualified from entering, as I work for ChristmasFuture, but I would like to have three days alone in my dad’s cabin for the holidays. You have to walk in to get to it. It has no electricity or water. No cell phone reception.
I’d just write and relax.
Thank you!
Leif
I want the same thing as you for Christmas. A better world for my children, and for ALL the children of the world. I am at a grateful place in my life where I want for nothing, except a better future for those least noticed in this world – the little ones who can’t speak for themselves.
And thank you, again, for the wonderful gift. They’re shopping for that washer and dryer right now.
Jenn´s last blog post..Nothing says "holiday" like squished-flat tatas.
oh, and you ARE a beautiful person. Inside and out.
Jenn´s last blog post..Nothing says "holiday" like squished-flat tatas.
I want happiness for Christmas. A wonderful meal with my family to hug and kiss and love on. I wish the same to you. I wish you were here to celebrate with…..gah, now I’m all emotional and teary eyed.
You rock Kimmy you are truly and inspirational person and mother, what a great thing to do
And yes world peace would be a wonderful think wouldn’t it?
Oh that is such a cool contest!
Let’s see, what I want for Christmas is . . .my children to stop fighting already. I know, I know, I should have wished for something more likely like a purple pegasus, but you know, gots to dream big!
mamamilkers´s last blog post..Oh LAWD.
I would like political leaders to wake up and start focusing on the environment including issues around genetic modification and pharmaceutical companies endangering the lives and health of people.
Thanks Kim for doing this and for letting us know about Christmas Future. If people are looking for other creative ideas for Christmas they can check out Oxfam Unwrapped http://www.oxfamunwrapped.org.nz/. My niece and nephew are getting ducks and chickens respectively.
i want some lined notepaper and a collection of nice envelopes for christmas. i read this book (the guernsey literary and potato peel pie society) and it inspired me to try to keep in written correspondence with people i care about. and my family.
and i want to win your contest and buy someone a goat!!
Ru´s last blog post..new traditions
You are just too cool. What a terrific idea.
If I could have anything – a massage would be good — a little alone time would be awesome – I’m not picky. What I really want is for things in the world to get better – calmer – let worry filled.
Marie´s last blog post..Historic moments.
I got my Christmas gift today. Alexander spent the entire day in school. He saw his teacher this morning and wanted to stay with her and the other group. He did. I said I would pick him up at lunchtime. She told me that she would keep him for lunch and then he could join his regular class in the afternoon! I had an entire day to myself!!!! It was wonderful. I got so much accomplished. And it passed by wayyy too quickly. Come see my post Knit One, Save One… it’ll make you a little proud of my Becca!
I am getting what I want-my extended family all together under one roof. I know that doesn’t sound good to some people but I am thrilled.
THis is great Kim!!! thanks!!!
what I really want is for my kids to spend Xmas with their grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins, and in the heat of the Argentine summer. for once…
kisses
Fewer pounds on my tum-tum and more colour in my hair.
EcoDad´s last blog post..All I Want For Christmas…
What a great idea Kim! Count me in. I would like 8 uninterrupted hours of sleep for Christmas.
My Christmas wish would be for my family and friends to be in good health for a long, long time.
World peace would be great! I enojoy reading your blog with all your eco-friendly tips!
I would really like some trees so the wind will stop howling through my yard…and they’re pretty
and if I were being really honest I would like the new canon markIII ohhh a girl can dream.
actually my kids just reminded me that all I asked for was a clean house and kids that listened…and they even told Santa.
a sleeping baby
All I want is exactly what I’m gettin which is to spend some time with my family and watch my little nieces and nephews experience the joy of the holidays!
What a wonderful idea! Our service providers at work usually send over large baskets of candies and goodies for Christmas and spend thousands of dollars giving to their clients who already enjoy a very comfortable lifestyle. This year, many of those service companies have decided to donate the money they would otherwise spend on their clients to shelters, food banks, toy drives, etc. in our community. I think this is a fabulous idea and my work team has been donating to families in need in our city as well as in other countries for years.
What I’d like for Christmas is (other than a puppy) for more people to give to those in need, for my new niece or nephew to get here safely and for health, comfort and joy to all my friends and family.
Just found out about this today via Twitter! What an awesome and charitable idea. I really don’t want or need anything in particular for Christmas other than a less restless mind
Hey this is really an awesome contest… really more of a give back if you ask me! I love it. Thanks for your comment on the Mom It Forward blog.. I agree your contest counts! I will likely add it on Friday or Saturday!
Merry Christmas today!
I didn’t really intend to enter this contest.. but you know what I really need?? A new printer. Nothing fancy, just working! Ours was broken when we moved 4 months ago…
!
Thanks for the ‘discover’! Do you twitter?
I’m
@carissa_momIF
[...] that ChristmasFuture contest I ran? All the way back in… last month? Wow, it feels like it’s been ages. Well, [...]
[...] So many amazing stories, so many amazing women. Mom It Forward wants to thank everyone who participated in the Happiness Headlines Challenge. We think you all RAwK! Here’s five more: Debra at 9 to 5 to 9 Shannon at Shanno Sez So Michelle at Wanderlust and Lipstick Jyl at Mommy Gossip EcoMom at You Can’t Diaper Their Faces [...]
[...] uend: poverty (used to be ChristmasFuture, which you’ll remember from my giveaway last year.) [...]