Gift Giving Appreciation

[Inspired by Reggio]

....We do it because we want to, not because we'll get a "Thanks", I have to remind myself after an ungrateful kid leaves the party I just threw him, or I do something "out of my way" for a parent...and they just walk out the door, like it was owed to them. I did it because I wanted to.

I agree with this sentiment as well ~ when I do things with the children it is because it brings ME joy to see them having that experience ... gratitude from the client is just a bonus ... plus I always get a thank you in the program because I have instilled this value HERE regardless of what is taught at home so children just naturally say thank you when someone does something 'nice' they even say it to each other in their play.

That said ~ I have stopped giving the children 'gifts' of commercial things despite being 'thanked' for the gifts I did not feel they were being truly appreciated either by the child or the client cause they never remembered the gift 2-3 days later so WHY waste that money? As mentioned sometimes I think that in today's day kids have SO MUCH that they no longer appreciate something 'new' and just well expect it like their morning breakfast it is just part of the daily routine to be getting something 'new' and so often I see kids come with something 'new' and by lunch time they have forgotten all about it ~ literally I have done experiments with this and taken the new thing and put it in a cupboard and the kids have NEVER asked about it and neither has the parent both forgotten that they spent $30-40 on something and than its just gone from their mind ... honestly as a child I knew every single toy I had, where its home was in my room and if someone had TOUCHED it I knew ... but I was lucky if I had a dozen 'possessions' to my name!

So last year I just 'stopped' doing gifts ... at Christmas we went out as a group and bought toys for the Angel tree one for a girl and one for a boy and they donated those to the tree and we also sent a child to 'school' in Africa through the donation online ... these were my gifts to them and it gave me great joy to experience that with them much more than any gift I have ever bought them ~ the conversations around what to get someone and choosing between did we want to buy an animal for a family in Africa or did we want to send a little one to school and conversations we had about why sending someone to school would mean more was awesome!

Birthdays we celebratte the 'child' ... no gifts.

Times like Halloween, Valentines, Easter and so forth we celebrate the occasion and do some crafts, baking of treats and so forth so it is the 'experience' that they enjoy and not the commercial treats and so forth.