My Christmas Wish

Christmas used to be the “most wonderful time of the year” for me, but after my Dad’s accident it is just a sad reminder for me that my Dad is gone. Ambiguous loss is huge for me starting around mid-November.

I try to be upbeat and cheery for the kids and Dennis but honestly it is hard.  My dad was the best at getting me into the Christmas spirit.  He would call and sing to me, he would make plans for the holidays, he would make sure that the gifts he bought were just right for each receiver. He put so much thot and effort into gifts and I am proud to say that it is a ‘gift’ he has passed on to me that I am trying hard to cultivate this legacy in my children. 

With this all being said, I struggle with gifts for our kids. We try to get them one thing that they really want (their lists are very short...for example iPod docking/charging station, art supplies, fuzzy socks or Ugg style slippers--this is the list of 3 kids!!!). This year we are having a big problem with Sam’s gift. 

He is asking for lego and not just lego lego, but he wants the more complex lego sets -- star wars, buildings, vehicles etc. Now these aren’t hard to find but the price they want for them is hard to dish out! We are talking about upwards of $155... sigh. I have checked out amazon, kijiji, ebay and other local bargain sites...nothing- well nothing in our price range ...

The real kicker is that Sam asked for these kind of sets so he could use them as BI therapy. It would help him to follow instructions (problem solving) and because it is lego (and not models which require glue and waiting time) he can pick it up and work on it and walk away when he is tired or frustrated.

A bit of back history here: Sam used to be the kid who would do plane models and other things without a thot... now they have too many minuscule parts, steps that require 5 minutes of ‘modelling time’ followed by hours of waiting for glue to dry. Also the smell of glue makes him nauseous. Our hope (Sam’s included) is that  he can get back to that hobby one day...but right now lego is more of his level, but he is waaaaaay beyond the easy ‘kid lego’. 

I had put a ‘wish’ on a local website in our area asking for lego sets that someone may have had for sale and if they were in our budget we would maybe be able to buy them.  I didnt go into details about why we needed wanted them I just stated that we were looking for our son and that due to his medical issues we spent $250-300 month on medication  and 3 other kids to buy for ... so our budget for gifts is not the highest... to make this short there was no responses to my wish, so I deleted it. 

I am not making this post for sympathy or anything. My hope is really that someone can help us  with ideas to help Sam with his therapy idea but more in our budget. We are at a loss of what to do! Both Dennis and I are so proud of this move that Sam has made to work on this on his own, but it is heartbreaking to know that now we are not able to get what he wants. Sam is ok with not getting lego (we have come to him and tried to find other ways for him to work on therapy) but sometimes you just want to be able to give them what they have asked for... 


It  is my hope that people who would read this would already know that I would make this wish for any of my kids, it just so happens that... so it seems... once again it is about Samuel . 

My Christmas wish is to find one set that Sam would like for a price in our budget or some ideas for me to try to help him to work on his therapy from a different angle...