Kids embody meaning of Christmas

Every year, a few days before Christmas, the Maxwell House goes from merry to maniacal.

It happens when my wife and I begin the nutso holiday tradition of present-counting.

Holy holly, honey! I just audited the tree skirt and discovered that our son has six gifts while our daughter has … get this … SEVEN! Yes, but one of her gifts is cat socks. Do cat socks not count?

No, they count. But only as half. They’re socks. Yeah, but he has a book. For him, a book is like negative-3.

But they also have a joint gift that he wants more than she does. I dunno. We better check the Santa spreadsheet.

They are the most first-world holiday problems possible.

Yet imagine for a moment that we could only afford one gift … a single gift for all of us.

That’s essentially the question that leaders of the Boys & Girls Club of Central Florida posed to a group of unprivileged kids at the agency’s Taft location last week when they conducted a holiday experiment.

Leaders asked each kid to name a gift they might like, as well as one that would make their mom or dad happy.

Then, with a grant from RedBox, the club bought both gifts — a drone one little boy wanted, for example, as well as tennis shoes for his mother. But there was a catch: The kids could only choose to keep one gift.

Suddenly, children — some of whom don’t have much — are staring at the toys of their dreams and faced with choosing between their own happiness or doing something nice for their parents.

For most kids, it was an easy choice.

“My mom,” said the 9-year-old who gave up the drone without a moment’s hesitation.

Why? “She’s been taking care of me my whole life. And I think she deserves it because she’s the best mom I’ve ever had.”

Another boy said: “I need the camera, but my mom needs this more.”

This was simply a blanket. Another little girl who gave up a guitar she wanted so that her mother could have a bottle of perfume explained: “She works so hard. She cooks me dinner. She cleans my dirty clothes and pays for the hotel that we live in.”

Yes, the hotel. It’s on South Orange Blossom Trail. That’s where the little girl, Faith, lives with her family and mother, Catherine Monroe, who runs her own cleaning business.

When Monroe first heard about her daughter’s choice, she desperately hoped Faith would keep the guitar for herself, saying: “I can’t afford to get it for her.”

But then Faith opted for her mother’s happiness over her own. Said her mom: “It melted me.”

The happy ending was that the club gave the kids both gifts — all of it documented in a tear-jerking video.

Watching the kids make selfless choices time and again was inspiring.

“These children have a great sense of love and understanding,” said Boys & Girls Club President Gary Cain. “They are children who decide: I may not have much, but my mom has less than me. And I want her to be happy.”

Still, someone has to instill those values in children. And for doing that, we can thank the parents, as well as the Boys & Girls clubs — which provide after-school care, mentoring, tutoring and life lessons to thousands of kids every day.

The staffers who work with these kids are underpaid and underappreciated, as are many of the world’s most effective altruists. But they are changing lives.

And Anna Dieuveuil, a leader at the Taft location, said watching her kids make those gift choices reminded her that she made the right career choice.

“It’s what we always teach our kids to do — to give,” Dieuveuil said. “And they did.”

If you’d like to learn more about the Boys & Girls Club, which the Orlando Sentinel has supported through its Family Fund and with a Sentinel executive serving on the nonprofit’s board, check out their website at www.bgccf.org or give them a call at 407-841-6855.

You can also check out the full video of these kids making their gift choices on my blog at www.orlandosentinel.com/takingnames.

My own family took a timeout from the holiday rush last week to watch the video together. It was a wonderful reminder about the true spirit of the holidays, the selflessness of children and the impact we can all make on others.

Merry Christmas, everyone.