A Little Time and a Keyboard: Lessons in giving from an 8-year-old

Lessons in giving from an 8-year-old

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Last weekend, we assigned our daughter the task of finding 10 toys for donation. She has drawers and drawers filled to the brim with toys that she rarely, if ever, plays with. This task should have posed no problem. However, instead of quickly pulling out ten toys that she no longer plays with, she proceeded to sit down and get "reaquainted" with her lost friends. Boo!

Eventually, she began to assemble a pile of toys to donate. I went to check on said pile and here is what she came up with:


Yes, she has embraced the trend amongst elementary school kids of donating McDonald's toys. Really, that is all you can come up with, sweetheart? I showed her some more substantial toys that she has not played with in quite some time. Predictably, she coughed up some reason why she needed to keep them.

 As I looked again at her pathetic pile, I began to think more about the world. I began thinking about how we often we give as a little as possible often not truly giving of ourselves at all. In a way, this reflection has recharged me and is pushing me to give to the best of my ability. Life is short and I want to make an impact. This is something that I need to impart upon my daughter. Then, perhaps, just perhaps, she will understand the difference between donating a McDonald's toy and one of her Barbie dolls. Sometimes our kids teach us important lessons. Parenthood goes both ways.

1 comment

  1. Very important and potent post. Question is, how do we as parents teach them? Are we ourselves ready to walk the walk of living only with necessities? BB2U

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