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Last year my mom wanted to take my older kids to a soup kitchen for the holidays to serve the homeless .. in hopes of teaching them to be greatful for what they have.
Sadly the idea came too late and the ones in our area had all the help they needed.
What are your opinions of having children help out in homeless shelters during the holidays?
I, personally, agree with it. I remember a couple of Christmas seasons ago I went downtown to get dh a Dumbo. The Disney store that I prefer to go to did not have any. So a friend and I went downtown. We parked and began our walk to the mini mall. The first person we came across was a homeless man .. he was sleeping on the sidewalk over one of those big vents that heat comes out of. I began to feel guilty. I wanted to give the man the money I had with me, I wanted to go home and not shop at this expensive store. Here I was looking for a $30 stuffed animal and here he was without a roof over his head.
I listen to my kids "gimme"'s and I think back to that day. They just don't seem to know what they have and what they truly need to be greatful for.
I would like to hear your opinions on this.
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I am a single adoptive mom. My family celebrates Christmas on Christmas Eve, with Christmas Day being for the in-laws. I don't have any. So when my 2 year old gets a little older, I'm going to make it a family tradition to help out somewhere. Even if it visiting the Children's Hosipital or a senior center.
i would not take children to a homeless shelter or soup kitchen to teach them to "be greatful for what they have." to me that only points out what those in need of the shelter/soup kitchen do not have, which sets up a feeling of being better than. i am all for teaching your children to give back to the community and the immortance of community service as a means of being a productive member of society, but please be careful of how you present the idea.
i have to get on my soap box for a minute and share some insight i got when i worked on a ped. onc. unit at a children's hospital. i would get probably 5-10 calls around the holidays from well meaning parents who wanted to bring thier children to the unit to play with the "cancer children" so that their children could realize how lucky they were. one time i even had a mother call and say she wanted to play with the "dying children." i was so taken aback by this that i had to say, we only have living children hear. sorry, to be so preachy but you would be surprised at what people come up with.
That was not my intent on visiting the Children's hospital. I've been to the hospital, not all kids get alot of visitors, the same with nursing homes.
I know when others around you are getting alot of visitors and you aren't getting any, it's tough. And just going on a holiday isn't the answer either. We have a local "Adopt a Grandparent" - so there will be alot of visiting on my end, especially since my sone only has 1 grandma and 1 grandpa.
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sorry, i did not mean to imply that was your intent, i was respoding more the phrase i had put in quotes from the original post. it is all in how you present the idea. also typically non-related children under 15 are not allowed to visit children's hospitals anyway due to infection control. i think exposing children to community service is great, but doing it to show them how good they have it is not a great motivating tool (IMO).
My kids are spoiled by our extened family lots of toys for Christmas/Birthdays. So it has become a ritual each November for each of them to give up some of their toys they no longer wish to keep. I have them wash the toys and make sure they are in good condition. Then we make a family trip to the shelter near us to drop them off for other kids. They at first hated the idea but after a few years have become accustom and look forward to playing Santa.
Teaching children to be giver's instead of taker's make's their hearts shine.
:D