When talking about giving and generosity we many time relate this to what we can give in material items. For our children we talk about sharing toys, giving gifts or drawing a picture or card. Learning to share these physical items is an important part of learning about friendship and even empathy, it is also important for all of us to remember that one of the most important things that we can share with others is our time.
Sharing our time, may mean taking the time to do a project or play a game with another person or it may be taking some time to make someone feel better if they are not well. For older children learning to look for ways that we can be helpful to others and especially our family is a good way of being generous with our time. What if we shared our time and saved a parent time by doing a chore around the home that was unexpected. How generous it would be if we watched after a one of our siblings or helped others on a project they are working on. Using our time to help family members is a good way to start thinking about how we can be generous outside of the family.
When we learn to give of our time to others, even when the task seems small, we are contributing a small piece of what needs to get done. We should never say, “Oh this is nothing.” For every little bit that we practice in giving we are helping others – whether we see the end result or not. Our contribution of our time will have both a physical and emotional impact on those receiving our efforts.