The Importance of Teaching Children Generosity

On Thursday, our local young lawyers association donated law related books to children at the local Texarkana Baptist Orphanage. In the spring we will be taking the children out for a night at the theatre so that they can watch the production of To Kill a Mockingbird. One of our local young lawyers was kind enough to bring cookies that she baked for the children. She has a young daughter of her own who was watching her bake the cookies. Her daughter is at an age where she asks many questions because she is curious about everything. Naturally she asked her mother why she was baking cookies. Her mother explained that she was baking the cookies to take to boys and girls who did not have a mommy and daddy to take care of them. This caused quite a bit of concern for the little girl who cannot imagine life without a mommy and daddy. After thinking about it for a while, she told her mother that she wanted to share her apple with the children at the orphanage who did not have a mommy or daddy. Although the piece of apple would not come close to feeding the 15 children at the orphanage, her mother allowed her to package the piece of apple up to give to the children. This story reminded me of the importance of teaching children generosity, even when they may not be completely able to understand. The natural tendency of children is to be selfish all the time. However, with little hints here and there about how fortunate the child is can go a long way in teaching an attitude of generosity. I think it helps with the attitude of entitlement as well. Since Christmas is usually a time of getting gifts for children, I hope that there are other parents like this young lawyer who are teaching their children that it truly is better to give than to receive.