Heaven knows, if ever a mother is guilty of spoiling her children it is me. The problem is that sometimes our desire to give our children the very best does not help them become the best they can be. Never am I more aware of this than during the Christmas season. My own technique for countering the inevitable deluge of presents that converge on my boys from loving relatives is to deliberately, and strategically, in the lead up to Christmas day, plan activities that teach them the importance of giving. What I desire is to raise kids that are grateful for what they have, at the same time as graciously sharing all they have. I have a long way to go in that regard, Christmas wish list making is the order of the day for my five year old but I’m going to keep trying.
The following are some suggestions for how other parents might encourage their own kids to embrace giving during the Christmas season.
(1) Donate Christmas foods to a local food bank. Even in developed countries the reality is that many people still go hungry. The church where we attend kids music has a food bank and I am surprised at the number of families that I see visiting the bank to collect donated food. Although donating to a local food bank is good idea all year long, at Christmas take your children grocery shopping for Christmassy donations. Buy non-perishable Christmas themed food in bulk and then drop it off at the food bank together.
(2) Buy a gift that will change lives. Many charities such as World Vision have Christmas gift catalogues that allow you to purchase essential items for communities in developing countries. You can purchase a goat, school supplies, or even a toilet for a family in need. Instead of buying a family member a material present go through one of these catalogues with your kids and have them chose a gift for a needy family overseas. You will then be sent a Christmas card with a picture of the charity gift – have your child write on the card and give it to the relative in lieu of a regular present.
(3) Donate at a Kmart Wishing Tree. For 28 years Kmart has had a Christmas Wishing Tree Appeal. Wishing trees are located outside of Kmart stores during the Christmas season as a gift donation site for underprivileged families. It has become a tradition for my boys to select a Christmas gift each for another child and place the gift under the Wishing Tree.
(4) Encourage personal interaction with someone in need. Will you be going into town where there are likely to be people doing it so tough they have resorted to begging? Bake some Christmas treats with your kids and wrap them up. Also, write a Christmas card and enclose a monetary gift then, when you encounter someone begging instead of just dropping a few coins for them, you and your child can hand them the gift.
These are great ideas. We often do the Wishing Tree one (when we’ve got one nearby) and the charity gift catalogue one.
I’ve just added a link here from the “Charitable” section of the gift ideas post. Some good additions.
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