Mom moment Monday

It is no secret that giving E a sense of philanthropy and service is really important to me. I was a girl scout for 9 years, got my silver award, was philanthropy chair for my sorority and have been working in non-profit since I graduated college.
My mom and grandma were both PTA president and girl scout leaders. Currently, they both serve as officers in service based organizations.
It is literally in my blood. In fact, we are bringing home our first foster dog tomorrow. This is the same organization we adopted Ginger from, and I currently support them as a volunteer fundraising coordinator. I can't help myself.
So, now, it is my mission to give E this same sense of service. She is already so compassionate and caring towards others. We talk a lot about her responsibility at school to help the other kids, and younger kids, learn the rule of class. Her teachers say she is consistently a wonderful helpful (except for the other day when she supported a mutiny during nap time... that's another story).
The holidays are coming, which means there are a lot of kids that will wake up on Christmas morning without toys. This is the perfect opportunity to instill some service.
E always asks us why we go to work. We tell her it is so we can make money to have a home and food.... at which point she pipes in with "to buy me toys and pay for soccer." I've done my best to explain to not every mommy and daddy makes enough money for food or toys. You should have seen her concerned face.

So, we took a trip to Toys R Us to pick out toys for boys and girls who don't have any toys. She was so proud to pick out toys that she thought would be really fun! We planned to get one boy and one girl toy, but she couldn't decide, so we ended up with two of each: a Rapunzel barbie, a baby doll, a tool box/set, and a kit to build a wood dump truck. The only snafu happened when she realized she couldn't actually GIVE the toy to the boys and girls herself. She didn't trust the Toys 4 Tots bucket and wanted to see the kids that were getting the toys she picked out. I suppose that is better than wanting to keep it for herself. I wonder if there is an organization that provides more of an opportunity for face time with the kids that are getting the toys... Hmm... Maybe something for next year.

But here's my girl, reluctantly tossing in her toys...

This is something that I know we'll continue to do as a family. We're also going shopping this weekend to fill a brown grocery bag with food for families for the holidays. We have so much, we are so lucky, it is our responsibility to give a little to families in need. And while the holidays are an ideal time to do it, it is a good reminder that these organizations needs support year around....