{"id":165,"date":"2017-11-17T03:30:00","date_gmt":"2017-11-17T03:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/every-one-unique.com\/?p=165"},"modified":"2018-06-17T17:49:42","modified_gmt":"2018-06-17T17:49:42","slug":"kids-give-back-during-holidays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.adventtherapy.com\/advent-therapy-d\/kids-give-back-during-holidays\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Ways to Help Kids Give Back This Holiday Season (and Always!)"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

We\u2019re going to take a little break from our regularly scheduled programming and talk about something that is near and dear to my heart: being a blessing to those around us who may be in need.\u00a0 And as a healthcare professional, this is a situation I encounter with regularity.\u00a0 As a parent, I want to teach my children the importance of caring for those around them, whether physically, emotionally, or socially.\u00a0 I imagine you do too.\u00a0 But the path to achieving this goal can be vague.\u00a0 I have seen this question come up on the Facebook groups I am a part of several times already in the past week or two.\u00a0 \u00a0\u201cHow can I teach my child to give back this holiday season?\u201d.\u00a0 It\u2019s a great question.\u00a0 And while the answer can be complicated, I do believe that it is also much more attainable than we make it.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a list of 5 ways we can bring the spirit of giving into our homes and hearts this holiday season:<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0 Volunteer<\/h3>\n

Depending on the age of your kids, some volunteer opportunities (i.e. serving at a soup kitchen) may not be appropriate.\u00a0 But they might be able to help sort items at a food pantry or help organize\/wrap toys at a toy drive.\u00a0 Be sure to call ahead if you plan to volunteer somewhere to find out if your kiddos can join in.<\/p>\n

I would also encourage you to view volunteering as a family event even if your kids can\u2019t physically come.\u00a0 There are a lot of places you go where you aren\u2019t able to bring your kids along (work, the gym, girls night out, etc).\u00a0 That doesn\u2019t mean you can\u2019t talk to them about what you are doing and teach them by your example.\u00a0 If you routinely volunteer your time and intentionally talk to your kids about it, they will grow up knowing that helping others is just something that we do.\u00a0 And then when they are old enough, most definitely bring them along!\u00a0 It may be easier to bring them to a place you are familiar with anyway.<\/p>\n

\"Making<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2.\u00a0 Participate in a Food Drive<\/h3>\n

Schools, churches, and many other organizations that we probably already belong to often organize food drives this time of year.\u00a0 I think this type of event can often be overlooked as an opportunity to engage our kids on this topic.\u00a0 Mom or Dad may just pick up a few extra things at the grocery store, send them to where they need to go, and call it a day.\u00a0 But this is a simple event that provides a huge opportunity, in my humble opinion.<\/p>\n

One in five kids in Pennsylvania are hungry (1 in 6 nationwide, but numbers can be worse depending on your individual community).\u00a0 Your kids probably know some of the kids in these statistics.\u00a0 Connect that for them.\u00a0 Talk to them about what it might feel like to not have enough food in your house when you are hungry.\u00a0 My kids meltdown if they have to wait 10 minutes for dinner (and no, during said meltdown is NOT the time to talk to them about this).\u00a0 Their concern for this issue may surprise you.\u00a0 Take them to the store and let them help pick out the requested items.\u00a0 And be sure to include your child in the delivery of the items to their collection point.\u00a0 Give them some ownership in the process.<\/p>\n

You can take this a step further too.\u00a0 Find a food bank near you and ask them for a list of items that are needed year round, or ask to be put on a list to be notified when they do not have enough of something (each food bank may operate a bit differently).\u00a0 This is a simple way that families can help year-round.<\/p>\n

\"Family<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

3. Donate<\/h3>\n

Contact a local organization and ask if they are in need of anything this season (homeless shelter, Salvation Army Children\u2019s Services- Foster Care, local Boys & Girls Club, or even your school\u2019s guidance counselor).\u00a0 They may need school supplies, food items, winter coats, kids pajamas, or other items.\u00a0 If your child is a little bit older, they may even want to organize a drive among neighbors or family members.\u00a0 All of these organizations operate year-round too.\u00a0 Consider taking this opportunity to ask the organization if there are ways you can help them other times of the year too.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

4. Make Cards<\/h3>\n

Perhaps you do not have the physical resources to meet some of the needs above.\u00a0 Maybe your kids are too young to participate in volunteering.\u00a0 Don\u2019t worry- there are more ways to help!\u00a0 We are surrounded by people who could use a little reminder that they matter, especially during the holidays.\u00a0 Maybe someone who is alone or maybe someone who works a thankless job (military, hospital staff, trash collectors).\u00a0 This activity is great for kids of all ages.\u00a0 Great for young kids because they can actively participate in the whole process (including card delivery), and great for older kids because it is an opportunity for you to encourage them to be thoughtful.\u00a0 Help them think about what the card recipient might like on their card (not just what the child likes to draw), what you can write in the card to make the person feel appreciated, etc.<\/p>\n

I think this suggestion may be met with pushback that it \u201cisn\u2019t doing enough\u201d.\u00a0 Yeah, it\u2019s not solving world hunger or lifting people out of poverty.\u00a0 But don\u2019t discount the little moments and the impact they can have on our kids, their hearts, and the people around us.\u00a0 A compassionate person is not necessarily one who donates to a charity once a year (no matter how large the donation), but rather, one who sees people, sees their needs, and moves towards them where they can.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

5. Invite Someone Over<\/h3>\n

Similar to the last point, giving back doesn\u2019t always have to be in the form of physical resources.\u00a0 Think through your contact list to someone who may live alone this holiday season.\u00a0 Maybe an elderly relative or someone you know who does not have family nearby.\u00a0 Maybe a family who moved from another country.\u00a0 It is no small thing to invite them over for a meal or an evening of watching Christmas movies and drinking hot chocolate.\u00a0 Again, this is a beautiful opportunity to talk to your kids about caring for others who may be alone or even feel sad during a season when everyone is supposed to be happy.<\/p>\n

\"Little
\nSo while your kids may be circling away in their holiday catalogues or even whining about all the things they don\u2019t have, plant some seeds of compassion during this season.\u00a0 Have conversations.\u00a0 Embrace the small moments.\u00a0 Remember that this wild and crazy parenting journey is a marathon, not a sprint.\u00a0 Your kids may not be the selfless angels you were hoping for just because they participated in a food drive.\u00a0 But we keep going.\u00a0 We keep practicing compassion, even when our hearts are struggling.\u00a0 And we strive to teach our children to do the same, during the holidays, and always.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  We\u2019re going to take a little break from our regularly scheduled programming and talk about something that is near […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":166,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-family-life"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.adventtherapy.com\/advent-therapy-d\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Decorating-Tree-768x512.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.adventtherapy.com\/advent-therapy-d\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.adventtherapy.com\/advent-therapy-d\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.adventtherapy.com\/advent-therapy-d\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.adventtherapy.com\/advent-therapy-d\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.adventtherapy.com\/advent-therapy-d\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=165"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.adventtherapy.com\/advent-therapy-d\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":167,"href":"https:\/\/www.adventtherapy.com\/advent-therapy-d\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165\/revisions\/167"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.adventtherapy.com\/advent-therapy-d\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.adventtherapy.com\/advent-therapy-d\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.adventtherapy.com\/advent-therapy-d\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.adventtherapy.com\/advent-therapy-d\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}