A Call for More Family Giving

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Lately, I’ve been spending quite a bit of time doing some much-needed cleaning around our cluttered house. It’s given me a nice chance in particular to stop and look at the many family pictures we have around on the walls, and covering most of the tables strewn about the place. And in lieu of creating a renewed interest in all these photos, the spring cleaning was quite directly the impetus for a strange, yet driving realization I suddenly had: our family has forgotten how to randomly gift!

Almost every toddler grows up looking forward to each birthday, Christmas, and major holiday every year. Getting gifts is one of the greatest feelings we have as a child. As we get older though, often times we forget just what the simple act of giving really stands for, which is simply our love for each other and our desire to have those around us be happy. The pictures around our house, especially one of my daughter opening her Christmas gifts many years ago, really brought that feeling back to me, and for whatever reason, struck a serious giving chord. It made me think, “why shouldn’t I randomly get gifts for the whole family sometime?” And so that’s exactly what I did.

Although the obvious obstacle preventing us from giving gifts on a regular basis is money, there are plenty of great gift ideas for Christmas and other holidays that are relatively cheap and easy, and can be given any other time of year too. The look on my husband’s face while he opened his “random-day gift” beside my ecstatic child was worth every penny of the relatively inexpensive gifts I bought them. And while I certainly wasn’t expecting anything more in return, the great bear hugs my daughter gave me was the best gift I’ve received in a while.

In sharing, I hope to spark some more great family love through the act of simple giving for the sake of giving. Do you have any good stories about random-gift giving?

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