Cambridge Mom’s Blog

Every year about this time, I start thinking about how I can teach my children something about giving during a time when, at least for them, it is all about getting. I have a friend who celebrates her children’s half birthdays by making goodie bags and delivering them to children in local shelters. She does this every year with her children.

Last year, my daughter, then six, and I went to the toy store where she picked out a special stuffed animal for a child in the hospital. I was hoping that we might be able to give the gift directly to a child who was sick and spending the holidays in the hospital. I had called around, but couldn’t find any hospital with a “program” like that (in hindsight, I should have just shown up with my daughter and a gift. I’m pretty sure a nurse would have taken us to someone’s room). What we ended up doing was depositing the gift in a large gift box at the Children’s Floating Hospital in Boston. It was a little anti-climatic for me, but my daughter still loved the idea of some child in the hospital opening her gift.

Another idea I’m going to try is to have a special giving jar in the house where we can deposit loose change. Each year the children can decide (taking turns, of course) where the money will go. I think of all those loose coins on the window sill, under the sofa, the laundry machine…

Here are some other ideas I found:

PBS Zoom

Families with a Purpose

Kiplinger

I am still looking for the perfect giving opportunity. One that will help someone else, or at least make them happy, and also resonate with my children. If you have any ideas, or experience, giving with your children, please share it with us in a comment.