I had an issue where the older boys caused some damage to the house a few months ago. The discussion in the comments was a great one, and one of the things that came out of that for me and Hubby was a renewed effort to get the boys into some kind of service experience.
See, we live in a very depressed area of a very depressing state economy. It so happens that Hubby is blessed with a pretty amazing job, so we don’t have big worries financially. Are we rich? Well no, I wouldn’t say that. But the bills are paid and we’ve got money left over, so in my book that’s rich. Not millionaire level… not even thousandaire, lol. But blessed for sure.
Either way, we desire for the boys to develop a sensitivity to the conditions of others and a habit of helping improve the planet where they can. At the same time it’s important to me not to sour them in the process by overdoing anything. So, lots of pondering has taken place.
Recently I learned that a senior citizen center needed a volunteer to pick up commodities once a month. The truck delivers the food right in our town, and the seniors live about ten miles away and have no way of getting it unless someone makes the delivery. It seemed like a match made in heaven, so I signed up. The first time, we had to go early to learn the ropes. The boys were not pleased at the time it took, and by the time we pulled into the living center with the boxes I was hearing some complaining.
Then we started the unloading process. It’s not too huge, there were only 13 boxes and we got to deliver them to each resident who’d signed up. I think it took about 30 seconds for 4 boys to stand up straighter and start working really hard to help carry the boxes and greet the seniors.
Heh, heh, heh.
When one of the residents turned out to have a dog, the boys were completely won over. Everyone was excited and happy when we left, making plans to buy Sugar (the dog) a treat next time we visit.
Our second delivery was just last week, and the boys secured permission to bring dog treats next month and again had a wonderful time showing off their muscles as they helped load and carry boxes. My shy 5 year-olds weren’t quite ready to make eye contact, but they did chatter and huffed and puffed as they carried the one-pound cheese boxes down the hall for me. I’m pretty certain there will be cookies baked for the boys next month, although they don’t know that yet.
Overall I’m thrilled with how it’s gone so far and I have high hopes that the boys will make friends with some of the folks we’re helping and have a great experience in general.
So how about you? Have you done any volunteer projects with your kids? What were they and how did it go? Any lessons learned or wisdom to share with the rest of us?
by AmyL
Photo graciously provided by aussiegall, through a Creative Commons license, some rights reserved
5 responses so far ↓
Sandie Law // Jul 7, 2008 at 1:52 pm
I haven’t gotten MonkeyBoy invovled in any volunteer activities, but it’s about time. He’s six now and is developing an “all about me” attitude. It doesn’t help that he’s the only child of an only child…the grandparents spoil him rotten. Senior center is a good idea…we have several in town that could probably use help…
Stu Mark // Jul 7, 2008 at 2:30 pm
Good, good, goooooood idea! I haven’t been putting time into taking the kids to volunteer things. I will take them someplace, not sure what - maybe a homeless shelter, maybe a beach cleanup day. Hmmm, my mind is a’whirrin’ away - Thanks so much for this!!!
AmyL // Jul 7, 2008 at 4:59 pm
Hi guys! Thanks for taking the time to comment. LOL on Monkey Boy being the only child of an only child. I’d never considered that concept before. I thought about senior centers for years but was always too afraid to just go ask if we could do something. Sigh. The need to work on my own shyness has been a bit of a theme lately.
Stu, for what it’s worth, we’re picking up commodities for the seniors every month. Basically it’s a box of food per senior that comes in on a truck from the government. The dropoff point is in my town, but too far away from the seniors (many of whom don’t drive). We just pick up the boxes and deliver. Someone put up a request on the bulletin board at church and it caught my eye. There may be other delivery type jobs that seniors need that would be perfect (and more short term) for you and the kids. It’s a nice way to meet them and interact while feeling like we’re there doing a needed job instead of just showing up to make small-talk and not have any clue what to do to be helpful.
r&i // Jul 8, 2008 at 12:28 am
I think it’s interesting that some schools require their students to volunteer X hours to go on to the next grade. While volunteering, I’ve met a couple of teens who were trying to get in their hours before the end of the school year. They were all really nice kids, and I think it was good for them to be helping out their community. They didn’t seem to mind either.
STL Mom // Jul 8, 2008 at 12:10 pm
For two years, I delivered frozen food from my church to a food pantry once a month. Usually I went when my son wasn’t at preschool, because the pantry was very close to a model train store/play area that he loved to visit. The food pantry was also next to train tracks where we often saw real freight trains. I joke that my son will always associate volunteer work with trains - not a bad thing, since he loves trains.
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