My kids have their basic needs met on a daily basis and then some.  They have nice clothing, trendy shoes, and some pretty fancy electronics that I never had at my age.  They work hard in school and get fantastic grades that make us proud, they are very deserving.  Earning items, allowances, and screen time means they have a list of chores they need to complete weekly, that can often be a challenge, but we expect our kids to appreciate all that they have because some children aren’t so lucky.

Every year around the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays my husband and I make it a point to not only remind our children about giving back to those less fortunate, but we adopt families through work and school to help out and carry out our mission.  It’s important in our family that we reiterate these 3 ways to be a good helper at Christmas and all year round.

1.  Help Around the House without being Asked  I admit there are times when I’ve asked one of the three kids to complete a chore about 5 times before it actually gets completed.  I hate to be the bad guy, or the nag, rather I’d love to have the kids own their messes and offer to help out without being asked once in a while.  It’s refreshing that my oldest who is now 17 does this regularly.  The 14 year old and the near 10 year old, not so much.  After a weekend away with just my husband, I was thrilled to see the housed had been tidied up by my oldest, boy did she get praise from us.  After the disappointment of hearing the younger two didn’t pull their weight, I came to find my youngest emptying the dishwasher about an hour later, without being asked.  My son was quick to add that he got rid of his bedroom trash and decided to take all the trash cans out around the house while he was at it.  Better late than never, but if this could be done all year, it would be a wonderful gift to me!
2.  The 3 D’s: Declutter, Deep Clean, and Donate  Let me put it gently, I have some hoarding tendencies that have been passed on.  I’m not proud of it, but I am guilty as much as my kids are that we don’t like to throw things away.  Once a month I make it a point to declutter, deep clean, and donate because we just have so much stuff.  Whether it’s paperwork/homework/mail, housewares, clothing, or sports equipment, we seem to “collect” a lot of stuff and then it piles and scatters, and gets to the point where we’re overwhelmed.  Once a month I take two bags, one for trash and one for giveaway and we sort and scrap in bedrooms.  Keep/donate items are decided upon need, we wish beloved outgrown items like stuffed animals a new home, and of course trash is discarded.  Our donate items are taken to shelters, Goodwill, or donation boxes that are found everywhere nowadays.  This is often an emotional event as some items are hard to let go of, but ultimately it is to make room for new things that you receive, especially during the holidays.  Eventually you don’t have to do this as often, but it sure feels therapeutic to have a more organized and less cluttered home, plus when a few kids work together, it makes things easier to accomplish.
   
3. Adopt Families and be a Secret Santa  Over the years I’ve gotten so much out of doing for others and making Christmas joyful for the needy.  I love when my kids are doing it too!  Just recently my youngest, who with the 4th grade student council, went shopping at Target and spent hundreds of school allocated funds to purchase gifts for designated families within her school.  She came home beaming telling me about the toys and clothing she purchased for two other girls her age.  They took the items back to the school to be distributed this week.  My husband’s company does something similar through a local organization and we bought dishes and towels for a single mother and toys for her children.  Although we don’t see the families receive their gifts, I can imagine how appreciated and blessed they feel and that just warms my heart!

Because of these 3 ways to be a good helper, this holiday season each of my children are possessing Santa’s 5 SugarPlum virtues: a Cool Head Under Pressure, Humility, Cooperative Nature, Inspirational Spirit, and a Kind Soul and will be rewarded by being on the “nice list.” I hope you can talk with your family into doing the same this Christmas and throughout the year!

Post is in collaboration with my work with the Fox Home Entertainment Insiders!