Sharing is Caring

“Sharing is caring, Isaac.” I watched as Isaac processed the words spoken to him by his big sister. She had reminded him of this novel idea, while sitting at the kitchen table; however I missed the first part of the conversation. Isaac responded, ” Benaiah share with me, Railene share, and Ava share with me; sharing is caring…but don’t hit me.” He then went back to eating his bowl of yogurt. Apparently, Isaac wants others to share with him – but just don’t share punches with him, that’s all. Quite ironic really, considering my youngest boy is usually the most ‘hands on’ of his fellow siblings. Like when I picked him up from daycare the other day, and his teacher asked me if Isaac sometimes plays rough at home. With a sheepish nod and a groan, I affirmed that he can be quite the handful at times. The daycare teacher then continued, saying that Isaac had been a bit rough with his little daycare friends and that he “rolled over his friends ” at one pint.

As soon as she finished speaking, this mental image flooded my mind: a long-line of four year old’s lying on the floor, and Isaac literally rolling over them all. A smirk started to form on my lips, but I quickly restrained my chuckle at the sight of the teachers straight face.

“Okay, sorry about that. I will take care of it.” I replied.

Once we left the daycare and everyone got into the van, I turned around to Isaac and asked him what happened at daycare.

He dropped his head, and said in a low voice (quite similar to Eeyore), “I wasn’t a good boy today,” he stated, “I wasn’t nice to my friends.”

“Did you roll over your friends, Isaac?”

“Yes.”

“Are you going to roll on top of your friends anymore?”

“No.”

“Good. You know rolling on your friends isn’t nice, is it?” (Ohhh I milked this one…)

“No, its not. I won’t roll on them no more.”

“Thank you, son.”

Yeesssh, daycare drama with the Twinados 😛

Sharing is Caring

In a house of six family members, I’ve heard that saying, Sharing is Caring, many many many times (usually in the context of one of my children wanting something and then reminding the other sibling to share). Yesterday, as I was cleaning up my basement, Railene, Ava, and Isaac were playing with some toys. Isaac had a toy that Railene wanted, so she asked him for it. He refused to give it to her. This is the conversation that followed:

Railene: “If you share, Santa will give you more presents. Sharing is caring.”

Me: “Railene, don’t say that!”

Railene (whispering): If you share, Santa will give you more beautiful presents…maybe you might get a LEGO set!”

Me: ***Facepalm***

It’s funny really, when you think about it. A child’s knowledge of sharing is caring, is often tied to the fact that they will receive something that they want, as long as the other child complies. For most children (at that age), the idea of sharing is to have your turn with a particular thing – mutualism at it’s finest.

I witnessed a form of sharing is caring, quite recently in fact. A form that can be classified as love. No selfish gain, no preconditioned purpose, just straight up love.

After my mother-in-law passed away on November 1st, a group of families planned, cooked and delivered meals to our family for weeks.

I have affectionally coined this group, The Meal Brigade.

These women and men, prepared such delicious meals, salads, deserts and set up a strategic delivery program for our family. In the aftermath of our loss, we never had to concern ourselves with buying or preparing food – which in itself is a big task and evidently, this was such a great help. (For those of you reading with big families, as you know a family of six don’t take long to go through food; having larger meals for us really touched us deeply.)

Most importantly, I saw the our friends network and our church network in motion.

A ministry of giving.

"So we urged Titus, who encouraged your giving in the first place, to return to you and encourage you to finish this ministry of giving." 2 Corinthians 8:6

Friends, Coworkers (former as well), church members, and even a few strangers – went above and beyond and helped us through this difficult time.

Sharing is Caring.

Giving without expecting to get anything back is a rare concept these days. So I say to all the “stay at home Mom’s”, the working “Monday to Friday Mom’s”, the “shift-work Mom’s” and the families who gave of their time, money and goods to bless our family – thank you so very much.

Let us remember to give this Christmas. It’s not about me, it’s not about you; it is about others. When we take our focus off ourselves, and place it on others, I believe we show the love of Christ intensely. Remember, we celebrate Christmas because God gave his Son. He set in motion the master-plan of redemption, to transform this world and set it up for redemption. Even in the midst of loss, pain, trial and loneliness, the reason we celebrate Christmas is all about Christ. And when we put our focus on Him: the spirit of Christmas, and the Joy of Christmas suddenly fills our hearts and souls and makes this time of year something special.

Merry Christmas – from my family to yours.

Christian