Stay at Home Mom.com

This holiday season everyone is looking for ways to give meaningful and fun gifts and still not spend alot of money. I received phone calls from various relatives and it was generally agreed that the grown-ups would be exchanging cards but everyone still wanted to know what they should get for the kids. So, we recently sat down with our kids and asked them what was on their list and I was surprised to hear what was on their list this year.

The younger kids mentioned a couple of lego toys and a couple of books they wanted to read but the older kids just wanted to spend the day snowboarding and in lieu of gifts our oldest son wanted us to donate to Child’s Play so that other kids spending the holidays in hospitals would be able to have something to do while they are there. Our other son chose Habitat for Humanity as a favorite charity as he has seen first hand the good it has done getting several very deserving families with young kids out of dangerous apartment complexes and into their own homes.

It was a thrill to hear them talk about their favorite charities. I had no idea this group existed. But it makes total sense. My kids are gamers and Child’s Play is a charity that puts video games into hospitals so that kids that are staying there can have games to play while they are getting better.

My kids other favorite charity is the American Cancer Society Relay for Life and in particular the Children’s Cancer Research Fund.

We keep a list of favorite charities on Stay At Home Mom throughout the year and so if there is a charity that you would like to tell us about please leave a comment below.

Also remember that along with great charities and good work that so many people are doing there are also scoundrels out there and very poorly run legitimate charities that spend more money on administration than on the actual charity. Check out any charity before you give your money to them. One way to do this is to visit Charity Navigator and looking into your favorite charity before giving. If your favorite charity is not listed there you can request information from that individual charity and also recommend it to the various charity listing sites.

November 11 is Veterans day and so today we salute our Veterans and all our service men and women serving right now.

Search HERE for different ways to observe Veterans Day.

We also recognize the dedication of the families supporting those troops and the moms praying for their sons and daughters every minute of every day.   Search HERE for various ways to support our military families.

Today we celebrate the birthday of the US Marines. Today especially, we recognize the service to our country of not only the enlisted marines but to all their family members, moms, dads, wives and children - to everyone that supports them - you have our support.

One way we can support our Marines is by donating to the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation Honoring Marines by educating their children.

( Stay at Home Mom recommends that whatever charity you decide to donate to you look for the Charity Navigator Seal to be able to make sure your donation is going to actually make a difference )

If you have a support group for families of our service men we would love to hear from you - add your comments below.