Can you feel it? We’re heading into the holiday season at full speed! It’s the time of year where we eat too much candy, too much turkey, then too many Christmas cookies! HA!! The season of excess is upon us and it’s the perfect time to remind our kids (and ourselves) to give!!
Teach them to give time. Give help. Give thanks and give often! How do we do that? I’m so glad you asked!! Here are some of our favorite ways to give!!
Giving time.
Dieter F. Uctdorf said, “In family relationships love is really spelled T-I-M-E.” I would suggest that this is true outside of the family as well. We help get our kids in that mindset now by spending time with them of course, but also by showing how the time they spend with their siblings and friends reveals the love they have for them. When my 5th child was born, my 3rd child was 4 and a half and he.was.in.love!!! He doted on his baby brother always. He ran to his crib every morning to be with him. My baby totally recognized him immediately and smiled at him sooner than my other kids. My oldest was 8 at the time. He asked me why our baby smiled so quickly when our 3rd came in the room. I smiled and simply said, “Outside of me, he spends the most time with him. If you want him to recognize you and want to be around you, you need to seek him out more.” Sure enough, that was enough motivation for my oldest to step up his big brother game. Within that week, even, the baby of the house was readily smiling at my oldest. Now, while babies are an easy example of the need to spend time and earn trust and love, the principle is the same regardless of age. They can be trickier to see the evidence that time spent is working. Spend time with them, they will feel seen and loved.
Giving help.
We have a little game that we play in our family. It’s called, “What’s wrong with this picture?” If I happen to walk into a room and find toys all over the floor, or counters covered in toothbrushes or papers I will ask everyone to leave the room. Then I’ll have 1 kid come in the room and I’ll ask them to fix one or 2 things that they see is wrong with the room. Once they’ve put away what they think shouldn’t be out, I’ll have someone else to come in. Inevitably the room will end up being cleaned, but it becomes harder to find something to tidy up after the first 1 or 2 kids have had a go at it. I do the same when kids are arguing. I ask what is wrong and how it can be fixed without my pulling someone away for a time out. I am trying to help them see where they can help clean up or dissolve an argument on their own. This applies in every situation. When we go to the park if they see trash, they can be the one to pick it up. If they are at school and find themselves arguing with someone they can step back and consider a better way to handle it. Please know we are all a work in progress over here! We practice this stuff a lot because we are not perfect at it!!
Giving thanks.
It is one of my favorite things to hear a kid say, “thank you!” Scratch that. I appreciate hearing, “thank you” from pretty much everyone! It feels good to be seen and our efforts validated. Every November we make a gratitude tree. It really helps us focus on the good in our lives! We also practice giving “thank you” cards to others for services rendered. It is good for all souls involved! Gratitude journals are also great for nurturing happiness and a thankful heart!
Giving often with a little bit of fun.
Giving takes practice for all of us!! A fun way that we have found to give is with this awesome card game! Sneaky Cards!! There are different missions on each card and they are all fun to do! There are 55 cards in a pack and some of them are just silly, but several of them give ways to serve those around us. Our family has had a sneaky card floating around our house for the last couple of years. You hide it and then whomever finds it hides it in a new place. Our rule is that the person that finds it also does a secret something once they find the card. My kids love this game!! It is so fun!! and makes a great gift!!
There is no better antidote to selfishness than giving. This time of year naturally lends itself to it! When I find that I am in funk or focusing too much on myself, I seek opportunities to give. Join us in our efforts!! Giving is a great place to be together!!
Would you like this positivity in your inbox? 🙂 We will email you a couple times a month so you can see the new posts! Don't worry we also don't like spam!
By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: . You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact
Kayleen
