Do not let greed replace generosity

Children are generous by nature but, during the holiday season, they can be overwhelmed by greed. With so many advertisements focused on kids, youngsters can lose their natural balance. To counter the commercialism, parents need to reawaken that natural spirit of giving in their offspring.

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"Just as a well-balanced diet in the early years helps children's bodies to develop healthfully, so, too, does encouraging a child's social and emotional relationship to giving and philanthropy in the early years impact their charitable impulses in later life," says Marcia Stankard author of The Spriitelees: A Christmas Tale About Kindness.

Stories of giving and sharing are one of the easiest and simplest ways for parents and teachers to use quality time in motivating ways. For children who are just beginning to read, it is the wise parent who can find books and websites that not only are safe for their offspring, but counter the "gimme" mindset with inspiration for more generous impulses.

"We need to model constructive ways for our children to act with intentional kindheartedness, strengthening their instincts to help others," Stankard urges. "There's no time like childhood to celebrate the importance of a small kind deed or gesture."

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COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning