Teaching my daughter about giving

"And after a long time the boy came back again. 

"I am sorry, Boy," said the tree, "but I have nothing left to give you- 

My apples are gone." 

"My teeth are too weak for apples," said the boy. 

"My branches are gone," said the tree. 

"You cannot swing on them-" 

"I am too old to swing on branches," said the boy. 

"My trunk is gone," said the tree. 

"You cannot climb-" 

"I am too tired to climb," said the boy. 

"I am sorry," sighed the tree. 

"I wish that I could give you something... but I have nothing left. I am an old stump. I am sorry..."

"I don't need very much now," said the boy, "just a quiet pleace to sit and rest. I am very tired." 

"Well," said the tree, straightening herself up as much as she could, 

"well, an old stump is a good for sitting and resting. Come, Boy, sit down. Sit down and rest."

And the boy did.

And the tree was happy.

Shel Silverstein, The Giving Tree

The giving tree is probably one of my most favorite books ever! It doesn't matter how old I get, every time I read it, I love it more and more! Today was a day to be thankful and to give back! Around 4:00 me and the littles loaded up the car with a few meals and brought them to some mama's that we know, and their families, because they are both very sick. What mom wants to cook when she can barely get off the couch? On the way through town Emma kept asking me why were were bringing food to people's houses and not staying to eat it! She's 4, so I thought that this would be the perfect time to explain what it means to give back! It's wasn't easy, and it consisted of about 40 min of "but why" questions. I think and I hope, that she finally understood. It's hard, because doing the right thing doesn't always have an answer other than, because that is what you should do! I tried throwing in The Golden Rule but I think it got lost in translation...or something like that. Anyway, when we got home and her Daddy came in the door, that was the first thing she wanted to tell him about. My heart was overjoyed! It was the look in her eyes, at that very moment, the showed me she felt good about giving to those families. I couldn't have been more proud and thankful all at the same time!