Give it away give it away now!
Posted by Beckie | Filed under Beckie
I just know the Red Hot Chili Peppers were talkin’ about donating to Goodwill in their “Give it away” song. Without playing most songs a ton of times, most song lyrics are indecipherable…ok that is a big word. I just had to look it up online. But I decided to play the video on Youtube when we were doing a toy giveaway. Just to get in the mood.
I pretty much live in fear of becoming like the folks featured on television in “Hoarders” and “Consumed”. So I actually overcompensate and do a big “Giveaway” at least a few times per year. With two small children (ages 2 and 5), toys seem to breed themselves and multiply in the hundreds. I don’t buy the kids many toys, but they still seem to add up from birthday party gifts and other occasions.
When my kids were babies, I did the purging without them even noticing. But now my little dude has a strong opinion about giving away things. Most of our conversations go like this:
Me: “Let’s put this toy in the bag, you haven’t played with it in a really long time”
Little dude runs to clutch the toy close to his heart: “Oh but mommy that’s my favourite toy in the whole world, I was going to play with it tomorrow!”
And so on….
So I decided to play the whole “lots of children are less fortunate card” to appeal to his better side. The good news is that he has a pretty guilty conscience (go me!) already, and was quite fascinated about where the toys are going. So instead of dropping the stuff in one of the anonymous drop boxes around my area, I drove slightly out of the way to a special Goodwill truck and got him to talk to the man working there about where the toys go.
Little dude holding out Bag filled with toys: “These toys are for kids who don’t have any toys. When the truck is full you can take it to the kids that don’t have any toys. They can play with these toys; there are puzzles and Little People…”
Goodwill guy* grabs bag: “Yeah, thanks” (*Obviously, not a big talker!)
A simple interaction (and of course, taking out the whole part about the Goodwill stores and goods to jobs story), but quite effective to suit my purposes. It makes the random and impersonal act of giving away toys, slightly more “real” for my small child. So now, on occasion, he instigates the whole “Giveaway” session and hands me something for charity.
I should probably mention…The toys he so generously offers to give away usually belong to his little sister!
In her late 30s, with a husband and two small children, she lives in the ‘burbs of Toronto. A librarian, Beckie works part-time. In her free time, “I am a chauffeur/part-time cook/boo boo kisser/housecleaner and laundry lady extraordinaire. I do most of the household shopping and financial planning.”
February 13, 2012 at 12:33 pm
Great way to instill a good habit Beckie and hopefully a life long one for your son – we all have too much stuff!
February 13, 2012 at 5:21 pm
Good lesson! I’ll have to teach this one to my son when he gets bigger. Perhaps one is a little young!
February 14, 2012 at 12:26 pm
I think we all can be a little guilty of the lets get rid of someone else’s stuff first though.
Good job on finding a way to get him to see that giving them away is helping other children. I had to do the same with my kids. It was great once they were in playschool because we donated to the class for a few years. Then they actually could still see and play with the toy if they so desired.
February 14, 2012 at 3:59 pm
He better watch out…soon his little sister will be bigger and more sneaky and crafty than he is and will successfully give away some of his toys! You’re teaching them both some very good lessons.