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My Turnby Felicia Tripp Folsom |
 |
From The Asian Reporter, V18, #4 (January 22, 2008), page 6.
Discovering the joy of giving
Thank goodness December is over. Do not get me wrong … I love the holiday season. But for some reason the Christmas decorations go up the day after Halloween, and the blinking red and green lights, bell ringers, and constant reminders from every retailer telling you to purchase, purchase, purchase can be annoying and overwhelming. In the past, Christmas holidays tended to be more stressful than enjoyable because I always fell for the incessant reminders that Christmas was coming … what is that supposed to mean?
On television you get two versions. The first is Christmas as a magical day where the family gathers for the perfect holiday meal and afterward crowds around the Christmas tree opening their beautiful wrapped gifts, singing Christmas carols. Yet my post-childhood version generally consists of people overeating and buying gifts beyond what they could reasonably afford.
This year I decided to approach Christmas in a different way by teaching my daughter a valuable lesson in the importance of giving to those less fortunate and to be truly interested in the well-being of others.
When I was growing up, giving back to others was a large part of my life. My dad taught me the reward for giving is far greater than the effort put into it. Every year at Thanksgiving and Christmas, my dad would spend the two days before each holiday purchasing, preparing, and serving food to hundreds of homeless people without a hint of discontent. I remember being in the shelter one year watching my father peeling yams while listening to his favorite Otis Redding song. I asked him why it was important for him to feed the homeless. He believed and taught me that the purest service is to help others without expectation of reward.
While most people celebrated Christmas this year by opening gifts, my children were taught what the season is really supposed to be about. Do not get me wrong, my children received gifts at Christmas. But at the same time I tried to curb their consumerism with a lesson in giving to those who are less fortunate.
One idea I tried this year with my eldest was the exchange game. The concept of this game is simple: whenever she received a new gift, she had to choose something she currently owned and donate it to charity.
The second idea was to introduce the concept of community service. If I can find opportunities and ways to serve the community, I believe my daughter can participate by observing, asking questions, and eventually finding her own way to participate.
This year I took her to the East Portland Rotary Christmas party for foster kids, held at the Rose Garden arena. Upon entering the building, I immediately felt people’s compassion and need to give their time and money to an extraordinary group of kids facing life’s toughest challenges. A plain, ordinary sports arena was transformed into an amazing winter wonderland where Santa and Mrs. Claus greeted every child who entered. When the day came to an end my daughter asked, "Doesn’t every kid need a mommy and daddy?"
What I took away from this holiday season was the lesson that we can turn our everyday experiences into natural lessons for our children. The idea of changing the world one person at a time doesn’t require a lot of money or time, but a willingness to teach children that they can make a big impact through everyday actions. This holiday season my daughter was able to see the profound impact of giving to those less fortunate through meeting foster kids and the people who dedicated that day to giving them an unforgettable experience.