Raising kids in our consumer focused society can be challenging even to the most socially aware family, so since Poppy was a baby we have been trying our hardest to instill a sense of social consciousness in her. She also attends a Erev Shabbat school at our temple that has taught her the meaning of "mitzvah" which can be understood as performing an act of kindness that is above and beyond the normal act of kindness. It is performing an act that is completely selfless.
Each year we have taken a toy and donated it during the holidays to teach Poppy this act of kindness, so last year, she let me know that she wanted to save part of her money all year long and wanted to pick a gift at the holidays to donate on her own. She also stated she wanted to donate her gift to a little girl who had lost her house in a fire. Wow. She blew me away with that. Sometimes as a parent you get caught up in all the day to day things and then your kid does something that just floors you and nothing else seems to matter. This was one of those moments. We felt very proud of Poppy that at 3 years old she had thought through all this.
So, she saved and saved and saved some more and we went online to the Disney store and she selected a Snow White doll (as she is a bit princess obsessed right now) and we made a big deal about bringing it to our local fire station in Noe Valley where we met Jack, one of the firemen. He was amazing and gave Poppy lots of reinforcement about what a good deed she had done.
The best part is as we walked away, she said to her Dad and I, "wow, we need to do lots more stuff like that- that felt really good." Priceless.
To learn more about the San Francisco Fire Fighter's Toy Program click here.
Happiest Holidays to you and yours.
xo
Kim
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