Cowabelle and the Christmas Spirit

Hey everyone, Cowabelle here.

OK, so first off, I think I ought to apologize. For what? For being wrong about what makes Christmas so special. Remember how I’ve been saying that it’s all about the presents? That all I want is…well…everything?

I was so wrong.

When I got home from school today, I had a HUGE fight with my mom. Mom basically told me that I was going to help her volunteer in the soup kitchen tonight, but I said “absolutely not!” I DID have plans. I was going to go back to the Curio Shop and show Sparky which rare theme I liked best. My mom FREAKED out and said that I’ve been spending every waking minute at a store or looking at catalogues and magazines, or talking about gifts or making my list.

Which, now that I think about it, might be true.

But at the time, I was mad. SO mad. I told my mom that I just wanted to have a good Christmas, and I was into the holiday spirit. She said that if I thought being greedy was part of the holiday, she felt bad for me – and she felt like she hadn’t taught me anything about being a selfless individual.

So I did what I usually do when I’m SUPER mad. I stormed out. I didn’t even remember my hat. I walked around the block a few times to try and cool down. On my third time around the block, I saw this family of Singoz. They were headed into town. I couldn’t help but notice how lightly they were dressed. It was COLD out there (ask my frostbitten ears), and they were wearing light spring jackets. They didn’t even have boots on. The mom and dad were holding their children’s hands, and singing carols. Singoz have such beautiful voices that I couldn’t help but follow them.

Right to the soup kitchen.

The dad held the door open for me as I walked in. He asked if I wanted to get my meal first. Something inside of me felt like crying. Instead, I just said “No, thank you, I’m here to volunteer.”

You should’ve seen my mom’s face when I walked behind the counter and put on an apron and a hairnet. She really did shed a few tears, I’ll tell you.

Anyway, I worked for three hours serving dinner. It went by SO fast. And know what? It was absolutely wonderful. I had a great time. I served kids and grownups, old Webkinz and young. And at the end of the night, we all sang carols with the Singoz family.

 As I walked home under the starry sky with my mom, I realized: Christmas isn’t about gifts. It’s not about stuff. It’s about being together with those that you love. Your friends and family make Christmas special. I also decided something else: I’m going to help Ms. Birdy gather toys for the toy drive. I’m also going to donate all of my old toys. It’s about time Cowabelle started getting into the REAL spirit of Christmas.

Starting right now.