Another Lesson in Thankfulness & Empathy!

Once December rolled around, it was time to plan our Fisher Family Season of Giving!  Each year, I try to make sure Lauren understands that she is a very lucky girl and has a LOT of reasons to be thankful.  She is still young, so these lessons are pretty basic.  We would pick out toys to give to Toys for Tots and we would make cookies to deliver to Sarah's patients at the nursing home.

This year, I took Lauren (and a sleeping Charlie) to pick out some toys for Toys for Tots, and she seemed to understand it a little more than last year.  She picked out 3 toys for a little boy and 3 toys for a little girl, and she took her time deciding which toy she thought they would like best.  Then, after we paid for them, we walked them over to the bin and she carefully placed them inside.

A few days later, I took Lauren (and a sleeping Charlie to pick out some bags of groceries to donate to the local food pantry.  We talked a little bit about the purpose of a food pantry and my hope is that we will eventually be able to volunteer there, together, one day.

Chad's office was making a donation to a local toy drive, so I took Lauren (and a sleeping Charlie) to Build A Bear to pick out a special bear for another little kid.  She had previously looked through a flyer and decided on a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, and she immediately grabbed it as soon as we walked in the store. We spent some time picking out happy qualities for the bear, picking out a heart, stuffing it, and giving it a bath.  She even picked out the Mutant Teenage Ninja Turtle theme song to stick in the leg and we found some soft weapons for the bear.  I have to admit...I kind of wanted to keep it for myself.  But Lauren proudly carried the box out of the store and kept it safe until Chad could take it into work.

Finally, on December 4th, Lauren, Charlie, Mee-maw, Sarah, Kevin, and I made some cookies to deliver to the local nursing home in Salisbury.  I stripped Lauren and Charlie down to underwear/diapers so that the cleanup would be minimal, and they both sat up on the counter.  This year, Lauren spent most of the time sneaking cookie dough/frosting, but she did attempt to roll out the sugar cookie dough and even helped with the cookie cutters.  Charlie got his first taste of cookie dough.  Shocker, he loved it.  And he spent most of the time trying to eat one of the cookie cutters.

                               

The next night, we visited Sarah, while she was working, and delivered some cookies to her patients.  Lauren happily walked into every room, greeted each patient with a "Merry Christmas" and handed them a bag filled with sugar cookies.  Later, she even said that she was glad they got cookies because they were sick and stuck in the hospital!  This is an annual tradition I hope we are able to continue.

Charlie slept through most of these moments of giving, but that is to be expected.  He is only 7 months old.  Lauren really seems to be getting the concept of giving more and more, every year.  My hope is that we keep up these traditions and add more as the kids get older.  I would like to see Lauren and Charlie volunteering at food banks, helping to serve holiday meals, and donating time/money to those less fortunate.  Our family has been blessed with unbelievable good fortune and it is important to remember and help others.