Teach Them To Give

In the upcoming holiday seasons, many parents will now give thought to planning special events, family get-togethers, gift-giving, and many other traditions that can get a little stressful.  There’s so much to do!

When it comes to my wife and I, trying to balance getting our children the things they want for Thanksgiving and Christmas while teaching them the spirit of giving and love, can be quite difficult.  This season, we’ve decided to change the agenda a little.  Instead of entertaining our children’s pleas for the things they desire, we told them we were going to be givers this season.  Mind you, when we first told them this, we thought we were going to be met with cries and pangs of opposition, but we were quite shocked when we saw how receptive they were to it.  The idea of putting together baskets for the community and dropping them off to families in need appealed to them immensely.  Our daughter even gave out a little cheer knowing that she would have the chance to something nice for someone else.

This season, introduce the idea of sharing time with your children.  Having them experience putting smiles on peoples’ faces and showing love to others is one way way we can cultivate a culture of giving instead of getting.  Please remember that education not only has to do with teaching your child academic subjects, it is how we instruct our children to be model citizens in society.  Teaching them compassion and humility for other’s needs is part of the educational process.