As a mom, I do my best to teach the importance of dental hygiene as well as the art of giving. Both life lessons are learned from example. Mommy and Daddy need to show proper dental hygiene as well. We also need to model the art of serving others by giving of our time, means and attention.
This lesson is much easier written down in a lesson plan book than taught… and received. The boys, thankfully, understand the importance of brushing their teeth and proper dental hygiene. Thanks to a few good reminders from the dentist for that helpful lesson.
The art of giving and serving others is still a lesson to be learned. As a part of our homeschooling citizenship and acts of service we partnered with Colgate for the Champions for Kids SIMPLE Service Project, “Bright Smiles, Bright Futures.” We shopped for Colgate products and donated the oral care items to a charity benefiting children.
I loaded up the boys in the car and we headed to our local WalMart. As always, it was crowded and full of people. Trying to teach the valuable lesson of giving and donation to my children while in the middle of a colorful toothbrush aisle… laden with Spongebob Squarepants, Transformers, and Dora the Explorer themed oral care items was difficult.
While filling our cart with the items to donate, the boys decided they needed the items for themselves. Struggling with the concept of giving to others. There were tears shed. Loud voices raised. Heads spinning. End of the world feelings hurt expressions.
After a few laps around the store to remind, encourage and re-teach the lesson, they finally and thankfully came to an agreement that other kids needed these super fun toothbrushes too. It wouldn’t be nice if they had sugar buggies growing on their teeth. Finally, they accepted that these gifts were for someone else. Learning the acts of service by giving to others.
Looking at the photo above, I will give you two guesses who the child was who was having the hardest time understanding and accepting that the super cool Spongebob Square Pants toothbrush set was not going home with him. (Yes, I know that is a totally long run on sentence).
We have decided to donate our toothbrushes and toothpaste to Love Inc. Our church partners with Love Inc. Through Love Inc. we are able to donate these fun themed oral care items to families who do without. Because of the privacy of the patrons and program, I am not allowed to take or share photos.
Our church is also going to Mexico to build a home for a family in need. The family has two children (one boy and one girl). The boys thought it would be a super nice if they were to give those children fun toothpaste and toothbrushes also. So we donated a set of themed oral care items to that family also.
It is my hope that Sponge Bob and Dora the Explorer would bring a huge grin on the children’s faces! It is such a blessing to give to others. I am hoping this mini lesson of acts of service and giving to others will help teach my children how blessed they are… as well as encourage them to give to others also.
How do you encourage and teach your children to give of their time, money and talents to their community?
I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias® Colgate and Champions for Kids #cbias #SocialFabric
I really love that Champions for kids works with so many brands, they are making such a difference in the world!
Aww, it’s might have been a hard lesson but an important one nonetheless. Aww, look at how red his face is. That just means the impact will be deep as he sees other kids feel the same way about it that he does, only that they don’t have the option of going to the store and browsing for their favorite whenever they want to.
I can imagine it was hard with such cool products to let go, but it was a great lesson to learn and I’m sure it’s planting the seeds for lots of giving in the future!
Haha! Yes… they are now asking what they can give to kids who don’t have toys. Sadly they are wanting to give their siblings toys away… and not their own. 😉 It is a work in progress. 🙂
Aw, he does look pretty peeved, lol, but what an important lesson to learn.
I love simple service projects that include children. What a great way to learn the value of community.
I try to make them understand that not everyone is as fortunate as they are, and we need to help those because if we were in the position others might be in we would hope for help.
What a great life lesson your children learned here. We’ve always stayed involved in our church and done donations to various places in town including a pregnancy center and a mission that gives out winter clothing. Our daughter a few years ago started going to the Salvation Army with a friend and serving dinner. She does that without us and with no prompting, so it certainly makes us happy that she is now doing these types of things from her own heart.