Then I got to thinking...I try to include the kids in my every day activities. Whether it's just telling someone to have a nice day or stopping to give a meal to someone in need (although sometimes Mason questions why I'm giving away his food...), I try to show them on a regular basis that we do nice things for others to show God's love for them. So why not have them do these acts of kindness on their birthday too and reinforce those ideas?! I can see no good reason why not...and so, a new Schafers family tradition is born! And Mason got to be the first one to have this great day!
I started planting ideas in his head a few weeks ago about what he might like to do. I gave him several options and let him tell me which ones sounded the best to him. Here's how his birthday played out:
#1 - Our first stop was at Wesley Hospital. Mason's first "act of kindness" was to take a bag of clothes for the kids who are in the hospital. He was so excited to give something to kids who were sick and told me he hoped it made them smile. He told me later when I asked that this was his favorite part of the day because he liked helping the sick kids feel better. (Can I get an "awwww"?) :)
#2 - Our next destination was His Helping Hands. Before we left the house this morning, Mason picked out 4 toys to donate. Since he was kind of shy when we gave the clothes to Ms. Melissa at the hospital, I told him in the van that he needed to help explain at this next stop. He told me he was really excited to give his toys to kids that didn't have any and that he would take care of it all...and boy, he did! He carried the bag into the donation room and, after I flagged down the lead volunteer, Mason pulled out each toy and explained what it did and why the kids would like it. He was super giggly and excited as we left there. I've never seen such a big grin on this kid!
#3 - Next, we headed back to Mulvane. I had given Mason the option of baking cookies for someone for one of his acts. He said he wanted to make cookies for our pastor. So we had baked chocolate chip cookies and Mason was my big helper and was really excited to deliver them.
#4 - Our final act was, of course, at Target. Mason finally got to "work" there :) His kind act there was to push people's carts back inside the store. Right as we were getting out of the van, a mom and her 5 kids came out of the store, so we headed their direction. I explained what we were doing and asked if Mason could take their cart back into the store for them. The mom was great - she made a big deal about his birthday and how nice it was to help others and we had a good chat and she said she might have her kids start doing something like that too. The kids all wished Mason a happy birthday and we took off with their cart. Right when we got it inside, it started to sprinkle on us. So, instead of waiting on other people to come out of the store, we went ahead and just rounded up some loose carts in the parking lot and parked them in the cart stalls.
After he was done with his final deed, he got to go inside the store and buy a toy and a movie with his Target gift card that he got for his birthday, which was another fun adventure :)
We had some leftover balloons & helium from his party on Saturday, so he wanted to blow those up and give them away somewhere. We ended up taking them to daycare when I dropped him off for the afternoon and he had a great time sharing them with all of his friends!
All in all, a successful day! I was so proud of Mason and his willingness to serve this morning. I honestly didn't know how he would react...or really if he would go along with this at all. But he made me so incredibly proud when he jumped in and was willing to give up clothes, toys, cookies, and put in some work to show love to others. I can't wait to spend more of these kinds of days with him and Madison and to instill in them how important it is to care for others. And how great to use your birthday to remember that...when we could make it all about ourselves...to have a constant reminder that we're here for a bigger reason, part of a bigger plan...here for His glory and to show His love and mercy to others.
