Through the eyes of a child: Gift Giving

I love to give gifts. I love the happiness that is put in a person's life when they open a present to find something that they have wanted, needed or asked for. I love seeing the smiles that come from opening gifts. It's a joyous occasion to see.

I am trying to teach my children the joy of giving gifts. They don't get it.

My children help me purchase the gifts for our family and friends. They throw temper tantrums of the nuclear proportion when they don't also get to purchase a "gift" for themselves - just ask my pastor's daughter who was witness to one (joy for me! ...sarcasm).

My children help wrap the gifts. They then help open them whether asked for assistance or not.

My children get excited about picking out their own gifts to give to someone else, then ask to "protect" that gift for the gift receiver...as if I don't really get that they just want to have the gift back for themselves. This is evidenced by Baby Owl and Pete the Penguin who are currently being "babysat"by my daughter (Baby Owl was given to Daddy; Pete the Penguin to our next door neighbor).

Through the eyes of a child, gift giving is difficult to comprehend. It's this way for a lot of adults, too. But, over time, they begin to get it - little by little. I'm unsure if this will help Daddy get Baby Owl back, but it's a start.

As a side note, I'm not sure Daddy would have dressed Baby Owl in a pink floral nightgown...

Comments

I'm no longer telling my kids to have fun

Today, I've made an important realization that is changing the way that I talk to my children. I am no longer going to tell them to have fun. Don't get me wrong, I desperately desire that my children find joy, happiness and laughter through numerous experiences and adventures. But, my children's definition of fun and mine have two VERY different meanings. I'll give you an example. My almost four-year-old son loves to destroy things. He's like his dad - a man who just wants to learn how things work, as well as cause and effect. So, he takes apart toys, sister's dolls, kitchen appliances, and more. He tears books because "the story was in the wrong order." He pushes buttons - both literally and figuratively. He colors on walls, floors, computer monitors, furniture, carpet and more because he wants to create maps and "building plans" for his Duplos. This is his idea of fun . Do you see my dilemma? His idea of fun is so completel

Leadership Mom: SWOT Analysis

In business, leaders often analyze our Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats through a SWOT analysis. So, if we are going to look at our role as moms as being the greatest leadership opportunity to us, let's start with analyzing ourselves and our kids. Here's the SWOT I developed for my family: Family SWOT Analysis As a doting mother, there are hundreds of strengths that I could put up here for my kids. Their hugs, kisses, bedtime stories and prayers, the fact that they come to me when they're seeking healing from an injury (physical or emotional), the notes and drawings they make for me, their precious hearts when they try to help me or that they've learned how to use the Keurig to bring me coffee in the morning...I could go on and on. Now, here's the part where we get honest with ourselves. Yes, we love our kids and we love our family (or, hopefully, most of the time), but we are not perfect. Nor should we be perfect. As we analyze oursel

AIOs, Pocket, and Prefolds...Oh, my!

As mentioned in my previous blog, cloth diapers are not your momma's cloth diapers any more. Now, the lingo can be daunting. There are AIOs, AI2s, diaper covers, doublers, fitted diapers, flat diapers, hybrid diapers, inserts, liners, one-size diapers, pocket diapers, and prefolds. When I first began my cloth diaper research, all of the different options overwhelmed me, and I didn't know where to begin. So, I did the only thing I knew to do...I asked other moms! While every mom will have a different story to share with cloth diapers, you still get some very good information. I learned why moms liked the diapers they chose, some of the downsides, and the costs to the different diaper systems. I also began to develop my own decisions on how I wanted to start the cloth diapers. When I first thought about using cloth diapers, I was dead set against anything that wasn't an all-in-one (AIO). These are the Porsches of the diaper world. There's no messing with diaper pi

Murphy's Laws for Moms

Search This Blog