Giving Money…
I remember several years ago, reading an article about kids and money. The author suggested giving your child money, and dividing it three ways. One part goes to spending on whatever they want, one part goes to saving for bigger items or college or whatever your particular values are in that area, and one part goes to charity. Ted and I liked this idea, so when she was old enough, we started giving her an allowance of $5 a week….$3 she can spend on whatever she wants, $1 she saves (right now for Christmas gifts), $1 is for charity.
Sometimes her ‘giving money’, as we call it, goes to organizations like the World Wildlife Fund or Forests Forever, because she is a nature lover. She decided that for Christmas, though, she would like her giving money to go to some kind of ‘Adopt an Angel’ program, where you pick a name of someone off of a tree, see what they want, and go buy them a gift. We’ve done that in the past, through my work or something, but not in recent years. Since she told me that she wanted to do this, I decided to keep my ears open and see if I heard of an adopt an angel or adopt a family thing around here. Turns out, it fell into our laps.
At her school, the classrooms decided to adopt two families, and sent home wish lists for us to fill. The family our classroom got is a single mom, 24, with two very young kids. Know what she asked for? Food. Diapers. A coat for her older son. A coat for herself. Wow. That really got Maya thinking, about a little two year old with no coat, how cold he must be. And it was really cold here last week, so she was thinking about it even more. Poor kid. Poor mom. I told her how hard it can be to be a single mom….because my mom was a single mom, and I know. Not just the money…but just being the one who is responsible for EVERYTHING, never getting to leave the kids with your husband so you can go out with your friends; no one to help when you’re sick and you just want to lay in bed all day, but you have to change diapers 
and cook and clean anyway; no one to help you make the hard decisions; no one to laugh with you over the cute things the kids do, or give you a break when you’re so frustrated you want to smack them, etc. It’s a lot of work, and to add being SO BROKE to the equation is just hard. So we talked about that a bit, and Maya decided she wanted to buy a coat for the little boy with her ‘giving money’.
So, off to Target we went. We went into the baby and toddler section, and all we saw were these little fleece things, nice for a crisp autumn day, but not much good against a bitter cold day, and winter is coming…and then, fate intervened, and there was ONE good winter-type coat left in the whole store, and it was a size 3T, just the size she had requested for her son. It was in our price range, just a few dollars more than the amount she had in her ‘giving money’ box. Perfect. I love it when life works out that way, don’t you? I hope the little guy has a warm winter.
17 Comments
hellomelissa
okay, i’ve been pondering the allowance “breakup” for a long time now, and with that coat story i am now tearfully convinced. i’ll let the kids keep their $3 for mad money, but we’ll also save $1 a week and put $1 a week to charity for each kid. what a great idea and story… thanks, j!
Ml
What a great idea! And what lovely thing to do. Things like this really teach kids how to save and how to give. Way to go!
Py Korry
What I like about program is that you’re not buying toys for kids, but rather giving them things that they will need on a daily basis.
Beenzzz
That’s great that you were able to find the 2 year old a coat. It’s also good that Maya is involved in projects like this. About two weeks ago, Zoe’s school had something similar to that and she really got into it. It’s very rewarding for all parties involved!
Shelliza
That is wonderful that you can give to someone truly in need. My heart breaks whenever I hear of children suffering. I’m sure that Maya was happy that she could help. What a thoughtful gresture.
heidi
Hey J, Thanks for the well wishes! Great new photo! I got the Yoda on Amazon but the company that sells it is Kryptonite Collections. It was cheap too, like 12.99 or something and it’s blown glass!
Dot
That’s great you found a coat for him. We’ve also done an adopt a family for Christmas here at work. I picked an 11 year old girl. We got her something practical, like warm PJ’s and some fun stuff too. I think it’s important they get something fun to open as much as the stuff they need. I’m trying to string something together here to capture my thoughts on it but I just can’t. I wish every boy and girl had a warm jacket AND a special toy for Christmas.
Cherry
I love the Adopt an Angel/Giving Tree type of programs, of course unless people don’t participate then I get roylally pissed off.
Maya's Granny
What a wonderful learning experience for Maya and her class, as well as an opportunity to do something that really has meaning.
Tabitha
Oh, how wonderful! It was meant to be. I have been feeling the same way. We aren’t ‘rolling in it’ by any means. But we have what we need. I came across some of Connor’s ‘old’ coats, Gracie’s ‘old’ (truth be told, they were barely worn) and thought to myself I’ve got to find a family who could use these. And I’d like to incorporate the kids in the giving of their coats.
So, I put this out there, anyone who knows of someone with children sizes 18 mos-4t – I have coats & am willing to ship them to a family in need.
Tabitha
Regarding your comment to my comment….I found a Women & children’s shelter in my area that is interested in the coats & some shoes…..I can’t believe how hard it was to find these places in my state. Anyhow…thanks for your comment & it looks like I found some recipients of warm coats & some shoes.
Jenny
That is great that she cares so much. I hope the baby doesnt have to wait until Christmas to get it. He needs it now, so cold. BRRRRR
Heidi
I think you guys deserve an Oscar for parenting. That is a great idea. I really admire your style.
Lalunas
This is the season of giving from the heart. Beautiful…
Melissa
She’s so sweet. What a great idea about the allowence. Our aren’t quite old enough yet, but I think we’ll do something like that.
Jack
You got up at 5:12AM? I’m tired just thinking about that one.
Black Belt Mama
My daughter’s school does that too. Each classroom adopts a family. We bought a remote control car last week.
What a great idea for dividing up an allowance. I may just do that myself.