Originally Posted by
keepingthefaith 
My husband seemed very appreciating of what I was able to do on a super small budget. He spent much needed time with our family, was getting ready for his long trip to his sister's home and helped me with wrapping the presents.
I about freaked over spending so much on the blankets, but prayed for guidance and felt okay with it. Got a cashier who said she loves these blankets! Cheered me momentarily until she added that she'll be buying them as soon as they go on sale and that she uses them for their dogs. Then I felt crushed - - that I was spending too much on them and that I was giving a present barely worthy of dogs to our children, and really pushing our budget as well! As terrible as I felt and through my tears, I still had a realization that the problem was much more inside me than from without.
My breakdown over that seems natural in retrospect. In doing for others, I again wasn't doing what was needed for me first. The emotions were growing ones. It was a good holiday and I'm so thankful for the time our family had together, for our extended family, for the love in our lives and the acceptance of ourselves and each other, as we are.
Some people just have no concept of the real value of things, so I wouldn't say that the blankets were barely worthy of dogs. I'd say that woman just didn't see what better purpose they could serve. I'm always shocked when I see people showing little or no respect for other people's time or money. Even my own kids. We work hard for everything we have, and they see no problem with literally walking on it (like clean laundry, Christmas presents, or art they made when my grandmother shelled out $100/month for my son to take the art lessons he so desperately wanted). We aren't well off by any means. I'm a SAHM and my husband is enlisted military. We don't have a large savings. We try to take pride in what we do have, especially those things that we CAN give to others, like the gifts we made this year. You can tell a lot about a person by the way they treat people and things that aren't "necessary" to them. It's not you, it's her. (Yes, I know this is rambly and all over the place. Decongestants tend to make me wired lol.)