I'm Trying To Teach Generosity This Time of Year....EgadsaGoodness!

Awwww....See my PERFECT (cough hack) children?!!!

(doesn't Chase just look so proper here?? hehe...)

Just look at them.....So peaceful, So cute, So balanced in all things life.....

Do these perfect (eye roll) children have the Christmas "gimmies" you ask????

Oh Come On Now!!!!!

Not "my" children......

I teach them the CORRECT character traits at all possible moments (read: not)...How could they develop that nasty December virus called "I Want..."?

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Okay.

Well maybe THIS one 'might' have an (uh-hem, look behind my back, narrow my eyes) 'slight' case of the 'gimmies' this year...

Maybe carrying around 14 toy catalogs, organized by preference, with items circled according to a very specific color-coded system that denoted which he 'really' or 'kinda' or 'i guess if i have too' wanted...

does signify some sort of relatively very minor (read: major) gimmie issue.....

BUT NOT the others!!!!

I mean, really, most of the others were in orphanages at some point in their young lives...They are still just happy with a few recycled and rewrapped toys each year....They really just want necessities like toothpaste.....

(cough, cough, gasp, cough, cough, clear throat)

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OH OKAY!!!

Even THESE PERFECT (snort) children struggle with the 'gimmies' this time of year....(Though Zane TOTALLY wins the prize this year!)

I started realizing we had a pretty big problem when one of them commented that the Christmas Tree wasn't "high enough off the ground for all the presents to fit under it".

Uh-Oh Houston!! We have a problem!!!

It's going to be a hard landing!!!!!!

So, I started giving this some thought and prayer.

As we've been taught in a few parenting classes we've attended, when a child is struggling with a negative character trait...EMPHASIZE THE OPPOSITE "GOOD" CHARACTER trait...

Jealousy? focus on Confidence.

Anger? focus on Self-Control.

Hate? focus on Love.

GREED? focus on GENEROSITY.

So, that's what we've been doing the last several weeks.

I've taken every, possible teachable moment to emphasize "GENEROSITY" to my crew.

I started by, one time when Zane was perusing his alphabetized toy catalogs editing some of his choices, asking him, "So, Zane....What are YOU going to give your family for Christmas?"

His eyes got big.

Obviously, and not so much to my surprise, this almost 6 year old had not considered 'that' for ONE instant.

Sigh. Makes ya feel like such a successful parent that does (not).

Eventually, Zane and I's conversation morphed into him being excited to 'bless' others....

I was able to use HIS excitement for receiving gifts to impress his little hearts that OTHERS have that same excitement too....

Surprise Surprise Zane...You are NOT the only 6 yr old who's looking for a gaggle of gifts on Dec. 25th....(again. this was a revelation to this child. egads.)

Over the next several days, Zane and I talked about what, as a bankrupt 6 yr old!, he could give to others...

I didn't think just taking him to "Target" and BUYING his presents for others for him was the kind of teaching I was going for...

I, honestly, kinda wanted the "giving" to hurt alittle...to be a bit sacrificial.

So, we decided he'd give some of his "prized" possesions to others this season....

I did NOT push this....I was only trying to get him to consider giving something of his to others...not some of his most coveted possessions...

I was pretty happy when...

As we were putting Amy's Christmas gift box (Amy is my sis and she and her fam live in India) together a few weeks ago....

Zane said, "I want to send Seth (Amy's son) some of my Star Wars figures"

HUH??!! WHAT????

You mean some of the 76 Star Wars figures you carry everywhere with you in an overloaded backpack yet you know when ONE is missing???

My boy started sifting through his collection...and to my great Momma joy....picked some of HIS fav's to bless his cousin with.

Sigh.

Happiness.

Does Zane still have the "gimmies"? yep.

But he's getting there....He "wrapped" 4 presents the other night...Each present was for another sibling and it was something he'd selected out his toybox....He was ADORABLE trying to decide what each brother or the one sister would like!

(Note: Chase is receiving, from Zane, a magnetic "Spiderman" figurine. I'll be interested to see Chase's reaction! I have high hopes that it will be loving .... Chase doesn't struggle with the 'gimmies' so much this year!)

And then, today, we were out shopping for 4 (annonymous) children whom we sponsored for Christmas through our church.....

I had had a "Meeting" in the KBMV before entering the store...

In the 'Meeting', I handed each boy the slip of paper giving information about their new 'friend' who needed some Christmas cheer.

And, YEP, some of the children we sponsored asked for SOCKS and COATS for Christmas. (I PROMISE my Zane had never considered asking for SOCKS before...which makes me happy AND sad....kwim?)

What a beautiful eye-opening time we had inside the KBMV today, as we were led by Chase in a quick prayer that, "even though we don't know these kids, help us to find things that will really make them feel happy on Christmas"...

And we did!!!

We found some great bargains that specifically met the wishes of a few of our sponsored kiddos...

Like Trey's friend who's paper said he "loves the Indianapolis Colts"....

and then we found a very cool "COLTS" football that was CLEARANCED out!!! Along with some other CLEARANCED out "Colts" stuff...

(there was a maximum amount allowed per/child...I was ALL about maximizing the limit!!)

As we were walking along the aisles trying to find the right stuff...

Trey made my heart explode when he said....

"Mom, this just feels right."

I said, "What hun?"

He replied, "Buying stuff for these new friends."

Phew.

Maybe the landing won't be as hard as I'd feared.....

At least these are my hopes and prayers as a Mommas this Christmas season.....

Hugs,
Andrea