Teaching Generosity to Our Kids
You might remember a few months ago I was in Cincinnati with Swiffer. As I shared with my family about the experience, Adeline was REALLY interested in that we helped people in need (Habitat for Humanity families) by giving them green Swiffer boxes.
She said to me, “mama, can we give boxes to families here? And can I color pictures for them?”
I emailed my rep at Swiffer and shared the story with her, asking if I might be able to give a few boxes to some deserving families at my church. She was happy to provide some and just a few days later the boxes arrived.
Simultaneously, I emailed with my church inquiring about some families that might be blessed by a box of Swiffer products this holiday season. The busyness of the season makes the ease of Swiffer products especially useful. More importantly, saving time with Swiffer products would give these deserving families more time to spend with the people we love.
Here are the four people my church shared with me (names changed)
Not only were the recipients grateful, but the experience was a powerful learning example for Adeline. It was a reminder to me that our children are never to young to learn and experience generosity.
Some of the conversations we have had around this giving experience:
- We have been blessed with a lot, so it is important that we are generous with what we have.
- Using our talents to bless others (like Adeline’s giving of her coloring) is a beautiful thing.
- Mommy’s work is really cool! We love being able to help others using the resources and products provided through this blog. (Thank YOU for showing up and reading every day. Without your support, none of these opportunities would even happen).
- Serving doesn’t look one way. We might not be able to volunteer on a traditional service project, but there are LOTS of way we can help others.
With going into the Thanksgiving/Christmas season, I know we will be having lots more of these conversations. (Elias’s school is having a forgotten angel gift drive and we have been talking about how we are going to help some kids and families by donating to that.)
This experience also reminded me that 1:1 time is an awesome opportunity for serving others together. I hope that as my kids get older, we can have more of these experiences together.
May the story of Adeline’s sweet generous heart and this simple Swiffer gift inspire you to talk with your kids about being generous.
My friend – this is simply beautiful. You asked someone (a brand) if they could help – and through you and your sweet girl – they are happy to do it. We should all ask a little more – taking a good lesson from Adeline today. Thank you. And thank you to Swiffer for being so amenable to doing good.
What a beautiful opportunity. The statement I like the best is “Serving doesn’t look one way. We might not be able to volunteer on a traditional service project, but there are LOTS of way we can help others.” I had to learn this myself when I was paralyzed in 2008 by a rare Neurological condition. My situation is similar to a mother of young kids. We are more limited but definitely not unable to do something to help others. I love the inspiration I find on your pages.
Blessings, Lora
This is SO beautiful. I love that you did this – if my daughter had made that comment, I probably would have just said, “yeah, that would be nice, wouldn’t it…” and moved on with meal prep. LOL!! You have such a giving spirit, and you are clearly instilling that in Adeline.