giving gifts

Sounds like a Christmas post, yes?!  Its not...exactly...it sort of stems from Christmas but is something I want to instill in our children all the time, not just at Christmas.   Our kids are at the age, and will be for a while, where getting gifts is way more fun that giving them so in an effort to even the scale a little, we tried to focus on who was giving the gifts this year at Christmastime (giving the giver attention and praise a little more) and want to continue as the year goes on to encourage our children to give by showing them how and what fun it can be!  I had kind of forgotten all about this particular lesson-attempt for the time being but was reminded today by Drew, how the things we teach our kids really can stick with them.  I just know if I don't record this, I'll forget how precious (I think) it is!

January 3rd is our niece's birthday and so we went as a family to buy her a present.  In the car on the way, I told Drew and Susanna that we were only getting a gift for Avery, we would not be buying any thing for ourselves but that we would let them walk the toy isles looking for something that she would like.  I emphasized choosing a toy that Avery would like, not necessarily one that they would like (otherwise, she would have ended up with her first skylander!).  They chose a cupcake set, a book and some ballerina pjs.  And we left, thinking it was a successful trip with a lesson taught, at least for now!

Today, I was making lunch and prepping some pico de gallo for tonight's dinner.  Drew and Susanna were playing outside (and getting along!) in the back yard.  Drew came in with a flower and said "here, mom, I picked this flower for you.  its a gift."  He is so matter-of-fact these days.  So I told him thank you and how beautiful it was and he headed back out the door.  Before he closed it, he turned and said "you're right mom, what they would like, not us".  I looked at him for a second, confused as to what he meant, and then I realized that he was telling me he had given me a gift he thought I would like, not one that he would like!

Parenting can be hard because it isn't like school where one gets As for passing an exam or critiqued on an essay, it's not like at work where if one does well they get a promotion or special notoriety.  But  when our kids shock the pants off of us with comments like this, it sort of feels like getting that A...maybe I'm not totally screwing this mom thing up!

 We really enjoyed ourselves at Avery's party!  It was Frozen themed so we made use of that Elsa costume once again!

I cannot figure out why this won't rotate but this video cracks me up every time...my kids are the kind to take charge, apparently!