But the holidays can be the loneliest and most stressful time of the year for many, and the primary stressor, especially for those of limited means, is money. A recent survey by the American Psychiatric Association found that half of those who responded worry about being able to afford holiday gifts this year.
For parents who are barely getting through the month, there’s no doubt about being able to afford presents. They can’t. They also can’t bear to disappoint their children.
“I never thought I would find myself in this situation,” said a mother of two. “During the pandemic I was an essential worker, which comes with its own unique stresses.”
Then she lost the job.
“I could hear my little girl and her brother making a list. It broke my heart to know they were making their list in vain,” she said. “To stop them from hoping, I told them I couldn’t afford to get them a gift. I tear up even now, at them saying it was ok and they didn’t need anything. So here I am. I can’t afford to give my 7-year-old daughter a gift for Christmas a second year in a row. Can you please help me not disappoint her again?”
Families like hers are the reason Globe Santa exists. Last year, the Boston Globe Foundation program delivered boxes of books, toys, and family games to 20,000 families in need, so that 30,000 kids would not go without gifts.
Parents are not alone in feeling the pressure of sky high holiday expectations. A mother of two children, a girl, 1, and a boy, 8, said it’s her son who concerns her. He “is feeling the weight of it. As his peers discuss toys they get, places they go, I have to tell him, ‘We can’t right now.’ My heart hurts that he has to feel left out.
“I want to turn all the disappointment into joy, and surprise him with a Christmas I cannot provide alone,” she said. “So here I am, vulnerably and humbly requesting your kindness be shared with my family.”
A mother of four said she initially hesitated to contact Globe Santa. “Because I don’t feel that we are any more deserving than any other family. I told my children already that we weren’t doing Christmas presents this year, so they would be prepared.”
Then she changed her mind. “You know as well as I do,” she wrote, “That every child loves to see even just one gift, wrapped and waiting for them, under the tree on Christmas morning.”
It’s even harder, parents tell Globe Santa, when there’s peer pressure.
“My son just started kindergarten at a new school and is slowly getting more comfortable here with new friends,” said the mother of a 5-year-old boy. “All I would like and hope for is that he is happy, healthy and kind to others — but in real life I know he feels left out with the kids all talking about what new video game or Pokémon cards they have.
“I’d love for him to open at least one ‘present’ that’s not a functional one (winter clothes, new shampoo, toothbrush). Although I do love the idea of no presents, I also know that he is 5 and deserves to remain innocent and ignorant of money issues and enjoy the magic of Christmastime.”
The single mother of a 4-year-old boy, recent immigrants from Chile, told Globe Santa that for her son to experience Christmas, “like other kids, at least one time, will make his year. He will have things to show his friends at school after the holidays. Thank you for giving us this chance to experience the best holiday in America.”
Bill Connolly, Globe Santa’s executive director, is sometimes asked “Why toys?” when there are so many other basic needs that aren’t being met.
“The answer is that it’s an opportunity for kids to think ‘Somebody thought about me,’” he said. And “when other kids ask them what they got for the holidays, they have an answer.”
Thanks to the generosity of its thousands of donors, Globe Santa has been providing kids with an answer for 67 years.
Eat and Shop to benefit Globe Santa: Eataly Boston at 800 Boylston St. is donating 10 percent of all market and restaurant sales to Globe Santa Monday and 10 percent of ticket sales from its Sips & Bites event Monday evening. Dine well and help raise funds for children in need.
Ellen Bartlett can be reached at [email protected].
