Playing Secret Santa

I headed to Toys R Us today, one of my least favorite stores, to see if their holiday layaway program was still active.
Holiday layaways at Toys R Us end tomorrow. (If the full balance of the layaway isn’t paid in full the money already paid is returned to the person who opened the account and the items are put back on the shelf.)
For the past three years I have played Secret Santa at Christmastime. The first year I paid some layaways off at Kmart a couple of days before Christmas.
Last year and this year I made it before the Toys R Us deadline passed. Their holiday layaway cutoff timeline seems to close earlier than other Big Box stores.
The manager who helped me found two families with younger children with items such as Legos, Hello Kitty mike stand and other fun things.
I love knowing two families will be happier and have presents under the tree for their kids this year because of me (and The Husband).
Someone in Massachusetts paid off 150 holiday layaways worth about $20,000 earlier this month.
In Ohio, a Secret Santa paid off $15,000 in holiday layaways this year.
Most of us can’t pay off thousands of dollars for others.
But whatever you can do for others this time of year is a great thing. No matter how big or small.
The holidays are a hard time of the year so many. And whatever I can do to make it easier makes me feel better.
In our families we no longer give each other Christmas presents. We all have what we need and frankly, want.
So why not help others and make their Christmases a little brighter this year? Isn’t that what Christmas is really about?