Teaching my Kids to Share....In the Most wonderful Time of the Year!

For a great part of the world, Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year! Christmas caroling, parties, gifts and cooler weather (even for us here in Thailand, we hit 60’s at night). However, other than for my religious reasons, I want my children to remember Christmas as a time to think of others and sacrificial giving. I want them to know that the real world is not here to cater to their every wish and need. I want them to learn to see others and their needs. I want them to learn to communicate, so they can learn about their surroundings and how they can make a difference.

So this Christmas, we decided to buy and make Christmas gifts for acquaintances and people we want to connect with. We have practiced this as a family all their lives and the other day when we went for last minute shopping I was touched deeply as to how both girls were volunteering some of their Christmas money to buy more gifts for others.

We had a wonderful Christmas at the Children’s Home, where we volunteer, and spent lots of time helping the kids open their gifts from Santa. The girls received a cute little pink tote bag, but I think the real gift for them was to enjoy at least one hour plus of helping the kids open their gifts. I was thankful for their joy of seeing others happy. That night we opened our own gifts which were cute and all but nothing out of this world. Don’t get me wrong, we got them fun things, but nothing super fancy. The next day I asked them if they had liked their gifts and they both answer “yes!” I told my husband how proud I was of their appreciation, to which he answered, “that’s how we raised them to be.”

My point today is about, intentionality. Are we raising our kids to be thankful, and appreciative whether they received an iPad or a board game? Are we teaching them to share and enjoy making a difference in the world? Or are we raising kids that cannot see beyond themselves, and their wants?

I grew up with all I wanted and needed, but I always saw my mom and grandfather, sharing with the less fortunate. Buying Christmas gifts for poor children, are memories sealed in my heart. I believe this birthed a desire in my heart to make a difference in the world. When I was 11 years old when we moved to USA, where I no longer had all I wanted, and when my mom, had to return the one Christmas gift she had bought me, because somehow she needed more money (can't remember why, because she was good at budgeting), this didn’t crush me or discouraged me. I was able to understand and remember it as a great moment of growth. All of this happened because of the way I was raised. Intentional parenting from my family was key and has shaped who I am today and I want to do the same with my kids. It is never too late to start and to model it for them.

Oh, please don’t take me wrong, we are not perfect and my kids are still kids like others, but in the midst of all that, I see that the things I have tried to teach them, they are learning and catching on. Also, we don’t just want our kids to be the only ones to grow in the area of giving, we also want to grow more and sacrifice more for others. There is always room for improvement !