The right pajamas can really get me in the mood

Now that Thanksgiving has come and gone and it is December (wow, already??), I can finally accept that Christmas is just around the corner.
Forget the holiday decorations that go up the day after Halloween.
Forget all the ways retailers try to lure us into stores to overspend and prop up their fourth-quarter earnings.
Forget the $50 Christmas trees being hawked from the Home Depot parking lot, at the supermarket and from any vacant lot in town.
I called the Volunteer Center last week for adopt-a-family. For me, Christmas fun now starts.
The Volunteer Center works by taking your information and matching you with another group to find a family.
I asked that it be a single parent (mother or father is fine with me) with one child.
They hooked me up with a local office of the Exceptional Children's Foundation.
My family is a single mother with a 2-year-old son.
I was told that he likes Blue's Clues, Thomas the Train and Legos. They also gave me his sizes.
For the mom, they told me sizes and that she can use clothes and that she likes perfume.
OK. It was not the detailed wish list I got last year.
But I can work with that. I already have some ideas.
And yesterday while I was at Costco, I saw some cute fleece pajamas with a dinosaur theme. Kids cannot have too many sets of PJs, so I grabbed a pair of those.

I was not really in the Christmas mood, but that gave me a little boost.
I also will buy for my nephew. He was just a few months old last Christmas. I think he will be overwhelmed by it all at first, but then jump right into the pile under the tree.
What better way to get in the mood for Christmas than by shopping for two little boys?
And knowing that I can help make the day extra special for at least one little family is the best gift I give myself every year.

Not to sound preachy, but if there is even the smallest thing that can be done for someone else this time of year, I encourage people to do something.
It doesn't have to be much.
Buy a toy for Toys for Tots. Donate to a food drive at a local church or food bank. Find a group that sponsors Santa for a Senior programs.
Even the smallest thing can make the holiday so much happier for someone.

OK. I'm coming down off my high-horse now.