Article and Photo Courtesy of Organized Christmas
Today's guest editor, Cub Reporter Perry Bear, takes on a ticklish
parenting dilemma.
How do you teach children to give during a holiday focused on
receiving?
Today's essay focuses on how to model and teach giving during the
season.
Perry has a suggestion, too, which is not so bad for a little teddy
bear!
From Our Guest Editor
Cub Reporter Perry Bear EwerDear Countdown friends:
It's me, Perry Bear Ewer. I'm Miss Cynthia's teddy bear; you may also
know me from my Web site for kids, Perry Bear's Fun Page.
It can be very hard for children to think about others during the
holiday season. Everywhere they go, people ask, "And what do you want for
Christmas?"
We have to help children learn to give, not just receive. Miss Cynthia
has some ideas in the essay below.
I have an idea, too. Unless you're Santa Claus, just change the holiday
question! Not, "What do you want for Christmas?", but "What are
you giving this year for Christmas?"
The answers will surprise you!
Your bear friend,
Perry Bear Ewer
To Do Today
Print the child’s gift list.
Schedule a one-on-one Christmas shopping trip with each child.
To Read Today
Attention, parents! Read Cynthia Ewer's most requested essay on kids
and giving:
"Gimme, Gimme" v.
Doing Good: Teaching Children to Give
Recently, I eavesdropped on an online discussion about teaching
children to give.
The original writer was a concerned, conscientious parent of a
preschooler. This father shared his plan to teach his daughter about holiday
giving. They would, he wrote, sort through the child's toys and set aside several
toys "to give to needy children."
An admirable effort, I thought--until he set forth the rest. He hoped
to locate a charitable agency that would permit his daughter to hand her toys
directly to the child who would receive them. This way, he felt, his child
would learn what giving meant in a direct and unambiguous manner.
I stared at the computer terminal and asked "What is wrong with
this picture?"
Over the next few days, I argued with myself. "How can you
criticize a parent who wants to teach a young child to give?" I asked.
"So many parents don't teach that lesson!" Still, I couldn't help
thinking about what this "lesson" would mean to the other child
involved--and what it said about children, charity, and giving.
As others chimed in the discussion, I eagerly read their replies. Most
praised the proposed plan--including the direct hand-off. One woman after mine
own heart did remind this father to choose donated toys carefully, making sure
they were complete, in good condition, and wouldn't pose a safety hazard to
another child.
But nobody said what I wanted to say.
Giving with Grace
Seems to me that this father's method, however laudable, falls short in
a very important way. Giving is not about toys, things, or possessions. Giving,
or at least, the kind of giving I want to teach my children to do, is about
grace.
"Grace", in Christian terms, is the ultimate gift. It is
something given freely, not earned. It has no ulterior motive. It is selfless.
It cannot be bought or bargained for by the recipient. Grace is a force more
powerful and more loving than any feeble human emotion, need or want.
Grace lies at the heart of every true gift. If grace is present, the
humblest gift warms and ennobles, creates and expresses love. Without grace,
even the costliest gift is cold and heartless.
But you can't give with grace if you're thinking of yourself first! Or
if your gift comes with strings attached, or sends a mixed message to the
recipient. There's no grace in the coerced gift, the
I-don't-want-to-but-it's-expected gift, the gift that is designed to nudge the
recipient in some vital way
When we ask our children to give, do we teach them to give with grace?
Or is it merely, as it seems to be for this family, a learning experience
purchased with old toys--without the slightest thought for the comfort, the
embarrassment, the feelings of the other child to the transaction?
How do we teach our children to give? To give in the spirit of grace,
to reflect the love which has been poured out so generously upon us?
Give year-round
First, we need to bring giving into our lives all year long. During the
holiday season, it is easy to share our good fortune. Food drives, bell
ringers, charity functions help us remember the needs of others.
People are hungry the other 364 days of the year! Do our children see
us model charity and giving from January through November? If not, what message
are we sending them: that hunger and pain and misery only exist at Christmas?
That we should only respond to this need only at Christmas time?
Make giving real
Second, we need to make giving real to our children. Best strategy: get
them involved.
One effective method for school-aged children is the popular Angel Tree
ministry or similar outreach efforts sponsored by many churches and charitable
organizations. A family sponsors a child of designated age and sex, buying
gifts and clothing for delivery by the charity.
When my children were younger, our family sponsored youngsters of the
same ages. My children did the shopping for our "angels". It makes
giving very, very real when a child chooses to buy his angel the radio-controlled
car he hopes to find under his own tree! Do take a picture of the wrapped
"angel" gifts and the young givers. Your children will not forget
that shopping trip.
Now that my children are older, our family focuses on the age group
that languishes on the tree: teenagers. Everybody loves to buy toys for a
three-year-old, but needy teens need love, too--and hats and scarves and
hand-held video games. Explain to your children why you have chosen those last
few forlorn tags. They will understand the love you express when you make sure
that even no-longer-cuddly children have a holiday gift, too.
Give in secret
Third, make sure your right hand doesn't know what your left hand is
doing. Jesus, a great teacher, exposed the fallacy of the ostentatious giver,
whose abundant charity depends upon whether anyone is watching.
Give in secret, and tell your children why: it is no gift when we
expect gratitude, appreciation, or attach strings to our offerings. We give,
instead, to relieve need; to share the abundance with which we've been blessed;
and to reflect to others the good that we find in the world. Giving with grace
is reward enough!
A few Christmases ago, I roped my eldest child, then 14, into a left
hand/right hand deal. I was coordinating a church food box program for 120
families and a toy drive for homeless children. My giving time and my giving
dollars were stretched as far as they could go.
Then I met a family that challenged me to give more. There were eight
children all told, and two single mothers living on the edge. I felt burdened
to see to it that they received more than the standard turkey dinner provided
by our food box program.
My daughter and I put our heads together. Could we shop very carefully
with our Advent money, and somehow find a way to bring Christmas to this
family?
We could, and we did. We checked the sale flyers and found a sale on
the types of toys we wanted. A neighbor (of limited means, himself) heard of
our challenge, and contributed $20 on the spot. We tightened the belt on our
grocery budget, and found a way to send gifts for all and some much-needed cash
to this family.
But we never met them. We never burdened them with our need for praise,
for thanks, for appreciation. We packed everything into a box and saw to it
that it was delivered along with their food basket.
My child and I remember that Christmas as one of our most joyous. Our
gift was not thanks or gratitude or "aren't-you-wonderful!" Our gift
was knowing that somewhere in our city, eight children were enjoying new toys,
and two burdened mothers had their loads lifted, just a bit, when they didn't
expect it. In a word, grace--but we were the recipients of the blessing.
Allow your children to sacrifice
Finally, give your children the chance to experience sacrifice in order
to give. Even a small sacrifice on their part will reinforce a lesson on giving
more than any other factor.
Our family's Advent traditions focus on sacrifice. Each of us chooses
an Advent discipline: some act or duty that will save money in our household.
Even a three-year-old can be "light monitor"; turning off the
household lights when no one is in the room. My eldest, the year she was eight,
chose to make my lunch each day (and her offerings both saved money and helped
me lose weight!).
Parents choose a discipline, too, like giving up lunches out. The
entire family can agree to give up dessert or forego movie rentals in Advent as
a family discipline.
In the center of our Advent wreath, we keep a little jar. Each night at
dinner, we light the Advent candles and report in on our discipline. Has the
light monitor turned off the lights? A quarter goes in the jar. Did Mommy eat
her peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich instead of a restaurant lunch? That's
another $4. As Advent progresses, the jar fills with the tangible results of
our sacrifices. This fund pays for our holiday giving.
To make the lesson real, let the children take the whole jar--pennies,
nickels, dimes, quarters and all--to the store to pay for the "angel"
gifts. Each coin stands for one small act of sacrifice, one little selfless
step to help others. Salesmen will cringe when they see you coming, but your
children will see the direct connection between their little sacrifices and
their ability to give.
And they'll do it without having to hand an old toy to another child.
Today's Recipe
white chocolate macadamia nut cookie recipe
Celebrate the season with White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies in a
Jar.
This pretty gift-in-a-jar is so good, you may want to keep it! White
chocolate chips and macadamia nuts make it pretty, while free printable gift
tags make it easy to create:
White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookie Mix in a Jar
A deluxe cookie with a sweet taste of the Hawaiian Islands, White
Chocolate-Macadamia Nut Cookies are a sweet and tender accompaniment to hot
coffee--or a cool drink.
A recipe from C&H Sugar, this layered cookie in a jar mix makes a
happy holiday gift for family, friends or classroom teachers.
Our version includes free printable gift tags.
Ingredients
1 wide-mouth quart (4-cup) canning jars with lid and rings
1 1⁄4 cupsifted flour, all-purpose
1⁄2 teaspoonbaking soda
1⁄2 teaspoonbaking powder
1⁄3 cupsugar, granulated
1⁄2 cupbrown sugar, packed
3⁄4 cupschopped macadamia nuts
1 cupwhite chocolate baking chips
Instructions
1. Sift flour before measuring. Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder
together in a small bowl.
2. Layer ingredients in quart-size canning jars: flour mixture, packed
brown sugar, white sugar, nuts and baking chips. [Hint for FoodSaver brand
vacuum sealer owners: use the jar sealing attachment to seal jars for longer
storage.]
3. Cut appropriate number of 7-inch circles from cotton fabric. Top
each jar with fabric circle, and tie with ribbon.
4. Print appropriate number of gift tags with recipe instructions. Cut
gift tags apart and attach to jars with ribbon. Or, hand-write recipe tags with
recipe below.
Notes
White Chocolate - Macadamia Nut Cookie Recipe
Empty cookie mix into mixing bowl; use hands to thoroughly blend mix.
Add: 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened, 1 beaten egg, and 1
teaspoon of vanilla. Mix until completely blended.
Shape into 1-inch balls and place 2 inches apart on greased cookie
sheets. Bake at 375 degrees for 12 to 14 minutes until tops are very lightly
browned.
Cool 5 minutes on baking sheet. Remove to racks to finish cooling.
Makes 2 1/2 dozen cookies.
