As the husband and I go through this season in life, we often look to the future. What kind of man do we want our child to grow up to become? What are some faults we see within ourselves that we don't want to repeat with him? How can we do better? What direction do we want his life to take? We have the wonderful privilege to raise this child and to shape him for his future. We acknowledge that we can't make his choices for him and we know that he will have differing opinions then we might. But that's the beauty in raising an independent thinker. They think for themselves.
Above all, there is one thing that we strive for as we raise this precious gift. We want him to be good and pure of heart. We aren't perfect and we certainly aren't expecting perfection but rather- we expect goodness and light. Wow. Let's just think on that a moment.
So how do you go about raising a child with goodness and light? Heck if I know! Ok, that's not entirely true. We know a little and we are still learning a lot. Someday, hopefully- we will get there. But in the meantime, there is one simple thing that we are doing and I know that it's making a huge difference in the kiddo.
We are raising our child with a giving heart.
A few weeks before Christmas, the kiddo came to me and said, "I have a budget for what I want to spend on Christmas gifts Mom and then with the rest of my money, I want to give it to the less fortunate kids."
Insert puddle of Mom here.
But seriously- this happens because we model the behavior that we want him to exhibit. We give back. We help others. We are action minded. And by simply doing, we teach him how to do.
Some examples?
December is our busy month. We help out local families through giving trees, we take the kiddo to pick out toy donations for Toys for Tots and we volunteer our time to put together Christmas stockings for homeless kids in our area.
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| The kiddo LOVES to pick out toys for other kids! |
But it's not just about charity. We do our best to model the behavior year round. We believe in rescuing animals and we are slowly becoming more active in our local, Rat Terrier Rescue organization. We regularly donate used clothing and household items, the husband takes the kiddo with him when he gives blood, we help to raise money for those in need through our Ebay page. The husband once stopped traffic to rescue a turtle for goodness sakes! Throughout it all, we are ever conscious of the fact that our child is watching. He sees us helping others. He sees us giving our time, our money and our love to those in need. Even if it is a tiny turtle- it matters. Giving back matters.
As the kiddo continues to get older, we hope his desire to help will continue to grow as well. He genuinely loves volunteer work and he has a passion to help, especially kids who are just like him. We want him to learn that if you have helped just one person (or animal) then it has all been worth it. We want him to know what it feels like to make a difference and to realize that he CAN make a positive impact on the world around him.
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| Sometimes it's not enough to talk, we must do. Photo of the husband & kiddo stuffing stockings for homeless kids. |
So yeah.
We are raising our child to have a giving heart and I have to say that it's been pretty amazing so far.
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