Raising Little Heroes: Gift Wrapping Party

This morning, 7 Raising Little Heroes families took part in a gift wrapping party at Parenting Place here in Boulder.  Parenting Place is a place for local families to meet people, get help, learn, share and have fun together.  They welcome all families with children pre-natal to five years old.  With their programs, they support families in Boulder, Broomfield, Lafayette, and Longmont--regardless of economic circumstances. Parenting Place provides support and playgroups, educational resources, Spanish language programs, parenting workshops and classes, and assistance accessing community resources. They also have a donation closet and food pantry. This annual book drive benefits various families in their programs and the staff told us that after word got out of our wrapping party with them, they received more book donations than they normally would have.

Did our children tear the place apart?  Yes.  Was it noisy and hectic?  Yes.  Were there chocolate cake crumbs all over the floor?  Yes.  Did most of the kids end up only wrapping 3-5 gifts (at most)?  Yes.  Did our kids wrap for 45 minutes and then move on to the playroom downstairs, leaving the grown ups to do the bulk of the wrapping?  Uh-huh....however, did we help Parenting Place wrap donated books going to families in need?  YES.  Did our kids come, sit down for 45 minutes and carefully wrap gifts and color cards to go with them?  YES.  Were we able to tell the kids why this was important?  YES.  So, I think it's safe to say it was a success.  Sure, we learned some things about how to make an event like this go a little more smoothly but for the most part, we did what we went there to do, chatted with old friends and new and showed our kids that sometimes it's great to take time out on a weekend to do something for someone else...not because you SHOULD or you HAVE TO but because it's helpful and fun...and worth it.