Giving Instead of Receiving - Kids at Christmas

Do your kids know the true meaning of Christmas? We celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ and as tradition states we give gifts. Truly though we teach our kids the wrong way of thinking. These days our kids are not happy unless they get hundreds of dollars worth of gifts every Christmas. I am a single mother of four children and I have run into problems when it comes to Christmas. A couple of years ago my kids were adopted for Christmas and believe me when I tell you my living room was full of gifts for them.

Well , they opened all their gifts on Christmas morning and at the end the wrapping paper flying and the ohhs and ahhs I heard "Is this all we got?" I was completely floored because I did not raise my children to be selfish. When I took a look at this closely i realized that as a parent I made this happen. How? Because we have always emphasized gifts for Christmas not being grateful or giving. Needless to say the following year I did not spend alot of money on my kids for Christmas. I bought each kid a one dollar gift and spent the whole year emphasizing the gift of giving. The important thing is I stuck to my guns. So how do we move our kids from getting gifts galore to giving to others in need?

The important thing is for us as parents to instill the gift of giving on our children. I am not saying don't buy gifts for your children . What I am saying is take the time to help your children adopt a child less fortunate than them and experience the joy of giving. My kids actually gave away some of their own personal gifts to bring joy to another child's face. I am implementing a plan with my kids so that they can still receive gifts for Christmas but also so they can give. Take your kids to the local Children's Hospital to talk to some sick kids who are stuck in the Hospital for months out of the year. Let them find out what those children want and then let them get those gifts for that child in lieu of one or two of their gifts.