Holiday Guide

Raising kiddos who understand what it truly means to share.

by Naomi -- Being Savvy Cleveland

Our household is full of toys.  Full of stuff and full of excess.

Over the summer and in recent months, we have struggled through what seemed like hopeless attempts to de-"stuff" our house.

Our children are privileged and over-toyed.  They have TOO MUCH!

We got rid of boxes of mismatched toys with missing pieces.  We donated the toys we'd outgrown and participated in a toy swap with friends to breath some new life into our "stuff."

My hopes had been that we would prepare ourselves for the upcoming gifting season ... which is what it's become.  A season of gifting - most of which is completely un-necessary!

I watched my kids through this process and instead of becoming sad at the realization that they had LESS stuff, instead they got excited about giving.

THEY ... these little itty bitties ... got excited about giving!

When your littles lead you, it's your job to follow that lead! 

This holiday season, we are requesting that they kids take stock in what they have ... choose what means the most to them ... and then gift a duplicate item to someone else!

If their favorite prized possession is a teddy bear, we'll make a trip to the store to pick out a teddy bear to gift.  If they have a favorite book, we'll gift that.

We're letting them choose from:

Toys for Tots

Project Night Night

or

local to the East Side of Cleveland : Santa's Hideaway Hollow

I'm very, VERY excited to watch them through this process.  I'm so hopeful that some of these small acts of giving back will impress on them the need to always think charitably.

We will be asking them to fully participate.  It is their responsibility to pick out the gifts, pay for them (with OUR money .... we'll work NEXT year on them ACTUALLY paying for their gifting) and delivering said gifts.

It's never to early to start teaching our young ones to share, right?




Being Savvy Holidays

The Giving Tree: An Appreciation

Nov
21
Sat

Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree is one of the many books that our generation has rediscovered upon becoming parents. It's ubiquitous -- found in every library, bookstore, and preschool classroom. And yet, rereading it again for the first time in thirty (or so) years can come as a

Read more

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  5. Christmas Day Our Way
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  21. A Very Offbeat Christmas
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  23. A review: Holiday Cards by Minted.Com
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  27. Favorite Christmas stories.
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  29. ...science and nature toy picks for the holidays
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  32. Albums that put me in the holiday spirit
  33. Holiday Entertainment Mega Deals
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  36. Crafty Friday: Home for the Holidays Wood Ornament Kit
  37. Holiday Cards with Kids
  38. Santa Goes Multimedia
  39. ...more great holiday gift books
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  41. Snacks and treats and everything sweet!
  42. ...five toys that make great gifts
  43. ...book picks for the holidays