Saturday, December 5, 2009

The importance of giving

Every year I try and re-inforce the fact that giving to others is so very important. This year, I think my kids finally got it...they got "it".

We had several toys in the basement , New and in Boxes, from Birthdays, Christmas, etc ..that for some reason or another my girls never got around to opening or playing with. It seems as though no matter how many times I ask the Granparents (my kids have 3 sets) NOT to buy them toys, they ignore me and Dive in head first.....So We pulled out ALL of the toys, I think there were about 30 items and put them out on the living room floor. Each of my girls were told to pick 1 toy that they wanted to keep....this was a VERY SLOW process, as they NEEDED all of them but they eventually each chose 1 toy and we packed up the rest. After talking as a family, the kids decided to give the remaining toys to a local orphanage in our area.

My girls have been asking me every day when we are going to take the toys.They are so excited to give them to the kids and to make others' happy. My 7 year old told me that it makes her heart feel good to give her things to kids that need it. She got it.



On a final note, my husband and I didn't want to clean out the kids toys and give them away while they were not home. We feel that it is important for them to be involved in the giving process and to willingly give things to others.

How do you help others less fortunate than you?


1 comment:

Sam's mom said...

We do a clothing "round robin" with friends, sending Sam's barely used/never used clothing to a total of 3 other families (are children are 15 mos, 4 mos, 2 mos & 1 mos old). There are some clothing that will not prove season appropriate from our friends. So, we have donated those cloths to the local thrift store, hoping they'll be perfect for other less fortunate babies in our area. We are also donating toys that are no longer age appropriate for Sam, or those he has never shown an interest in/played with.
Next year we are planning on going to the store and having Sam pick out a toy to donate to charity...sending the message of giving early on.
This was a wonderful posting and I hope others share what they are doing to teach this important lessen to their children.