Fostering Altruism in Children

The thing about the robin's nest treats that I told you about this morning is that a single batch makes a lot of cookies. (Like, more than 7 dozen. Way more than we could ever eat ourselves.) For us, the fun is always in the making of the treats more than eating them, so we always have extras to get rid of (and this time even more than usual.)

So, like they've done in the past when we've made holiday treats, the kids asked if they could take the extras to school. (Yes! Absolutely!) My son's teacher doesn't allow us to bring treats to the class, so we usually just bring them in and share them with the ladies in the office, and any teachers we happen to pass along the way.

It makes for a nice surprise for them, and gives me a way to get rid of all extra treats that we don't need to eat. Win/win! Plus, I don't ever want to deny my kids the opportunity to do something nice for someone else - especially when it's their idea.

So I wrapped the cookies up for easier transport, made some gift tags so that people would know what they were, and we took them to school with us this morning.

As we were making our rounds with our little bag-o-treats, my daughter reached up and took my hand and said "Mommy, it's nice to share things with people. I like seeing their faces turn into smiles."

I don't know if anyone has eaten the cookies yet, or what they thought of them. Everyone seemed very appreciative, and my daughter got lots of hugs and thank-yous. And of course I hope they all loved the treats. But above all, seeing my daughter's love and generosity just completely made my day.