Working in the school system, I hear a lot of I want, I want, I want for Christmas. Now I can't blame the kids. Everyone is asking them what they want, the television and print ads are telling them what they need to have to be "cool" and it seems to have become a huge competition to see who gets the most or coolest "stuff". Black Friday sales are no longer limited to Black Friday but start weeks prior to it and my personal "bad business" award goes to those stores that are open all day and evening on Thanksgiving so that people can shop till they drop and not allow their employees to spend time with their own families. I refuse to shop on Thanksgiving and have also decided to avoid the absolute madness of Black Friday.
Having said all this, let me tell you what does warm my heart. The school that I substitute teach at has what they call the Motivator Store. Kids get tokens for good behavior and they can turn them in for prizes. The prizes are donated by staff and community members. During this Christmas season, the wonderful woman who runs the store came up with the idea of having the kids be able to buy gifts (with their tokens) for family and friends. The gifts will then be gift wrapped (in donated wrapping paper) and given to the kids who purchased them to take home right before Christmas break. I wish you could have seen and heard the joy that these kids had when they got to go and "buy" gifts for others. They were much more excited about that than I have ever seen them over buying things for themselves. They were so eager to share with everyone what they had purchased for their moms, dads, brothers, sisters, grandparents and friends! For some of these families, this store is the only way that it will be possible for these kids to give gifts to those they love. What a wonderful blessing and what an important lesson. Truly it is better to give than to receive!
Embarking on and embracing this next chapter of my life where I start the great adventure of becoming a grandmother.
Hurrah for the one who thought of this! Our school used to have a similar setup for the kids. . . use tokens to buy small toys, etc. Doug used all his tokens for the year to buy me a small ceramic knickknack of an Indian woman with a dear. I still have the knickknack on a shelf , in a place of honor.
ReplyDeleteThat is so sweet Denise...I can see why your treasure it so much. :)
ReplyDeleteThis is an absolutely wonderful idea! I can just imagine how excited and motivated the kids would be. As a stay-at-home mom, most of my money comes from my husband's paycheck. When I can purchase something with money I made myself, wow. It just seems so much more meaningful.
ReplyDeleteBe blessed and know that people really do look at our old posts, too!
Have a wonderful week Miss Debbie!
P.S. I'll be praying for you just as soon as I hit publish!
Laura