Special Lesson - Spirit of Giving

This holiday season has been extra special, as this is the first yeat that my son has really grasped and gotten into Christmas.

He is just old enough to understand what Christmas means. It has made this Christmas the best one yet... Lil man helped (literally) put up the Christmas tree with his Papa, decorated the tree, helped us to set up the nativities (yes, we have three. Two bear nativities and one traditional nativity. When we were done, lil man said, "We need to go buy another nativity!"). He also was a great helper with putting out the wooden Swiss Christmas choo-choo, stockings and lights. From a parent's perspective, it has been so much fun to talk about Christmas, explaining the significance of certain ornaments, decorations and everything.

Lil man's school has a Toys for Tots drive. This year we took this opportunity to teach lil man about the spirit of giving. We told him that not all little boys and girls have toys and that this Christmas he was going to give a little boy and girl a new toy. He was really excited and took a lot of pride in this idea of giving a child who "doesn't have a train, a train."

The day came to donate the toys. I was a little worried that he would suddenly change his mind and want to keep the toys (especially as one was a Thomas train - which he loves). But, he made us very proud. Without hesitation he donated a toy for a girl and a toy for a boy.

When he got home he told us that he gave a little boy and girl a toy. He said he did this because they didn't have any toys. It was a special moment - a good learning moment.

I feel proud as a parent that I was able to teach such a valuable lesson to my son.