giving tuesday - Stuff Parents Need

Special thanks to The Motherhood for partnering with me to make this Giving Tuesday post possible. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are my own, as always.

We are just a few short days away from Giving Tuesday (#GivingTuesday), friends!

Maybe I should back up for a second….have you heard of Giving Tuesday? This year it will take place on December 3rd, and it is designed to follow on the heels of Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday, which I think we all can agree tend to be a little heavy on the spirit of excess consumption. On Giving Tuesday, we turn our attentions to the joy that can be found in giving. It’s also an opportunity for people to join together to think of ways to give more, give smarter, and to let personal philanthropy shine as part of the holiday season.

What I am Teaching My Children about Giving

Last week my Sunday School class had a great conversation about how we cultivate a spirit of gratitude and a spirit of generosity, both within ourselves, and within the children who are part of our lives. I shared my approach to the topic that day, and it made me realize that it is something others might want to hear, as well. I don’t think I have the perfect approach, by any means, but I do think it has been an effective with my preschooler. Perhaps it will be helpful to some of you, as well!

giving tuesday angel tree for 5 year old boy

One of the ways that my family gives back during the holiday season is by participating in the Angel Tree, and purchasing some needed and wanted gifts for a local child whose family is struggling to provide. I involve my child in the entire process of selecting a child to “buddy up” with (as opposed to “sponsor”) and she also helps me with the gift selection, based on the child’s expressed needs and wishes.

Because she is a child, she understandably goes through a period of discomfort when the remembers that the awesome stuff she has picked out is not for her. And that’s when the questions begin about why we are giving away these things, and why she can’t have the same stuff.

Taking Turns

This is when I talk with my child about how one thing it is important to do as a human is take turns helping out one another. Then I help her remember all the ways that people help us in our lives. I point out babysitters, friends, teachers introducing lessons, going over to someone’s house and being treated to dinner, and even shopping at the thrift store, which we love to do. Darah knows that everything in that store is there because someone was ready to share with others. After I help her recall how others give to us and how wonderful that feels, I explain that it is our turn now to give to someone else.

Perhaps the examples I give her of us being helped are not as obvious as something like being helped by Angel Tree, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t a whole lot of people out there who, one way or another, have helped us so that we can be our very best selves and be safe and happy. When you help a child to develop empathy for a situation, and to relate to being helped, then helping others doesn’t feel like a hand out, or reaching down to someone who is in some way “less.” It is simply about taking a turn to be the one to share.

Will the lesson need to get a little more complicated over time? Of course. But my real hope for now is that I’m laying the foundation in my children that they will be more aware of how much others help us, so that they will feel a compulsion to pay it forward and help others. Not trying to be too Pollyanna here, but can you imagine how different the world would be if giving to others was something everyone just naturally did? And I know it is big task to try to develop that in my own children, especially since I will tell you that I sometimes struggle to role model that behavior, but I think it is a goal worth pursuing all the same

Join Us

This Tuesday, please join me in being generous in whatever way speaks to you the most, be it by writing a check to a nonprofit whose mission moves you, or by volunteering, or by helping your neighbor in some small way. We are going to be taking a load of donations to the thrift store that we also shop at, because it is our turn to share some items with others! We are going to try to send more toys this time around, so that some of those toys might find themselves under someone else’s Christmas tree this year! Here are a TON of ideas to get your family started!

There are over 2,400 charities, volunteer organizations, corporations and foundations working together in all 50 U.S. states to help get the word out about Giving Tuesday, and to encourage individuals to live out one of the most awesome traits of Americans: generosity. And remember: it doesn’t have to be grand to be good. Every turn taken to be the one to share has a ripple effect. Get ready to start one of those ripples this Tuesday!