Brian Thomas was looking over his kids’ holiday wish list. There was a ton of items that both of his kids requested for this year. After checking out the list, he spoke to his wife about their kids expectations this year for Christmas. While they were talking, they were checking out their kid’s rooms. While they were doing a toy inventory, they saw some toys from last year’s Christmas that was still in the packaging. They couldn’t believe it. In their minds there needed to be a change moving forward. Their kids are 8 and 10 years old. They are old enough now to have some real conversations about wants versus needs. The only thing that Brian and his wife now needed to decide was how carry out this idea.
Carry In & Carry Out
Brian loved going for walks to clear his head and think. While he was on a local trail in his town he came across a sign. It was a carry in carry out policy sign. In this context for the park, it meant that visitors are expected to bring in everything they need and take out all their trash with them. They would be leaving the park as clean as they found it. That’s it! He thought. When he got home he shared his idea with his wife. She loved it. They agreed that for each toy that they are asking for and receive for this Christmas they then had to donate a toy that they don’t use anymore to charity. It was a simple concept, but it was a great way to show their kids how to pay it forward.
Sounds Like A Plan
That evening at dinner Brian and his wife talked about their idea to their kids. At first their kids were uncomfortable with that idea. Later on with a bit more of explanation Brian’s kids started to understand. They grabbed their wish lists and marched into their rooms determined to select toys that they didn’t care about anymore. After an hour passed, Brian and his wife were happy to see two medium sized boxes filled with toys, books and games. They all agreed this should be a tradition for the whole family. The parents agreed and went into their room to see what they could donate. They wanted to make sure they were leading by example. That is a good sign of parenting right there.