Teaching to Give

Last week I was a little worried. As we move from Halloween into Thanksgiving, Christmas and A's birthday. It is the season of holidays. The season of family. And often - the season of gifts. I absolutely love how generous my family and friends are, they are so thoughtful and giving. I want A to be the same way. 

So I started thinking about ways to get him into liking giving as much as receiving gitfs! We baked cookies for our neighbors, I solicited suggestions on how to get him to care more about giving, and worried about how to get him to be more caring. I worried. 

Today A came home from school and was so excited about his Halloween loot. Mommy fail admission here - I didn't know I was supposed to bring candy and toys to share! A was telling me about how nice everyone was. He was so animated about wanting to call Madeline to thank her. To tell her how nice it was to give him a spider (the nicest spider in the world). And he so sweetly asked me if he could please bring his own toys to share with his class. 

Tears came to my eyes I guess I don't need to worry so much. I think he's doing fine. He is a sweet, thoughtful, generous three year old. So his face lights up when he gets gifts, his face also lights up when he gives them too. He loves to say thank you and gives me little bits of paper with such love. He makes me bowls of pretend soup and sings me happy birthday on a daily basis :) He always gives me the biggest piece of the (pretend) pie.

I am so lucky to have the little (bigger) guy in my life. 

This post was inspired by The 13th Gift by Joanne Huist Smith, memoir about how random acts of kindness transformed her family’s bereavement and grief during the holidays. Join From Left to Write on October 28th as we discuss The 13th Gift. As a member, I received a copy of the book for review purposes.