Since my daughter is beginning to realize that she’s not the center of the universe, although she’s an important part of it, I thought that this Christmas would be a good one to talk about being thankful and helping others. As a family, we volunteer with an organization that helps provide fresh fruit and vegetables for those in need. We also support a foster child and do a Christmas hamper for a family every year.
My daughter has never participated completely in the Christmas hamper. Last year she was aware that we were doing it, but she wasn’t particularly interested. This year, when I mentioned the idea around Thanksgiving it was met with great upset and a loud “no”!
Why? Well, apparently she was concerned that the fact we were giving gifts to another family this year would mean that she would not have enough gifts for Christmas. Gulp. I explained that as the only grandchild this side of the Atlantic, she tends to get overwhelmed by gifts and we have trouble keeping everything to a sane and reasonable number of Christmas presents. I also explained that even if I had all of the money in the world, I would not spend it on Christmas presents for her. Although I did this in a sensible and not an angry voice, I am sure that this won me the good mom of the year award.
When we got the information about our family last week, I debated even mentioning it to my daughter again, since I’d gotten such a strong reaction the first time. To my surprise, when I did mention it and used her as a “consultant” to determine what gifts a preschool-aged boy might like, she got into the game. She was very keen to decide what he would receive for Christmas.
Today, my daughter was making Christmas cards. She informed me that some people in the world don’t have Christmas cards, so she needed to make them for everyone. Well, perhaps the idea of helping others is sinking in, albeit in a quirky four-year-old way. So goes the continuing saga of the Christmas hamper.
Do you involve your children in activities that help others? How do you get them involved, and how do you explain what you are doing?