A Back to School surprise

Long before I was a mother I had the privilege of being an aunt. As a young adult, I can remember feeling no inclination to have children of my own but loving whole heartedly those little ones. I relished in the opportunity to spend my hard earned money on them by deciding which were the cutest baby clothes possible or which stuffed animal they would love the most. Flash forward more than a decade and being an aunt has proven to be such a fun and special part of my life thus far.

As they have gotten older and live far away it has become almost impossible to surprise them with cute clothes or toys, so instead on occasion I like to put together surprise packages for them. I try to avoid all major holidays and instead focus on a time where they might not be expect something in the mail. I try to pick a theme like Back to School, Valentine’s Day or maybe focus on a season like Winter. Next, for the coming weeks I keep my eye out when I am out running errands for items I can add to the box. Festive socks, cute pencils and candy are always a good place to start with all these tweens and teens in my life. I realize they might not love all the items I send, but at least they know I am thinking of them.