Generosity comes in ALL sizes



Children never cease to amaze me.  Not just my own, but my kids that I am surrounded by at school as well.  They truly are like little sponges, ready to soak up ANYTHING and EVERYTHING.  Today, it was very apparent to me of how generosity comes even in the smallest of people! :)

I have a student in my classroom that really struggles.  He is what we teachers call a "young 5" which basically means he has an early birthday.  On top of having an early birthday, this student of mine also has some limitations.  When he first arrived in my class he wouldn't talk.  Wouldn't might not actually be the right word, couldn't may be more appropriate.  You could ask him questions and he would just stare at you as if he didn't understand.  We slowly made progress up to answering yes/no questions, and as of today he will answer in short phrases which makes me SO EXTREMELY excited everytime he attempts!!  Anyway, the point of the story is that I have another little friend in my class who has taken him under his wing.  Knowing that this little boy cannot always express what he needs or wants, his buddy is right there waiting to help him out... taking care of him, watching out for him, encouraging him, and being so generous with his friendship! 

Example #2:  Another Kindergartener, in my teammate's class, walked by me today and I noticed she cut all of her hair off.  This little girl had LONG beautiful hair down to her waist.  When I first saw her I thought to myself, "Why would her parents cut her hair?!?!?!?"  When she saw me looking at her I told her that I noticed she got a haircut and her reply was, "I gave my hair to someone who didn''t have any!!"  Come to find out, she donated her hair to Locks of Love.  The amazing part of this is that it was NOT her parents idea... it was hers.  SHE wanted to give something of herself to someone who didn't have anything! 

Example #3:  My very own child.  After picking him up from school today we were on the way home when my lovely car started screeching.  It's been screeching for about a week now and I guess its time to take it in and get new brakes.  Caleb heard the screeching today and here is how our conversation went:

C aleb: Mommy what's that noise?

Me:  It's my brakes buddy, Mommy needs to get them fixed.

Caleb: Mommy are we going to the store to have them fixed?

Me: Not today buddy.

Caleb: Why not?

Me: Well, we have to go home first and we need money to get the brakes fixed/

Caleb: Do you have money Mom?

Me: Not right now I don't Caleb.

Caleb: I have money in my pig.

Me: You're right you do!

Caleb: Mom, you can have the money in my pig if you want it.

I was literally in awe and he melted my heart with that last sweet little sentence!!  We can learn so much from children.  This is the age where they do not have a filter or guard up and you get 100% complete honesty!!  Wouldn't it be great if our world had more generosity in it???  WE could definitely learn a lot from these little but incredibly smart children!   I hope as Caleb grows, he doesn't lose this wonderful quality that I wittnessed today.  It brings pure happiness to my face that my 3 year old has such a wonderful and kind heart already!