Gratitude

"Gratitude begins when a sense of entitlement ends." - Steven Furtick

The boys are young but beginning to grasp the reality that there are people in this world...in our community even...that live very different lives than we do.  This is our main reason for collecting donations rather than presents at their birthday parties.  I know it will get increasingly difficult as they get older, but I hope by then they realize they're not entitled to endless gifts on their birthdays.  They have a responsibility to use their good fortune to help others.

We had so many wonderful books donated at Sully's party we couldn't wait to pass them along.  So we took them to The Children's Place to pack them in backpacks for the kids to take home. 

Each month The Brookside Mothers' Association packs food in backpacks for children at The Children's Place (a place where young survivors of abuse and neglect in KC receive treatment).  The food goes home with the children so they have meals for the weekend.  It had been mentioned that it would be nice to include a book for them to take home too since many don't have any of their own.  I knew it would be an awesome way to pass along the books we received from our kindhearted guests at Sullivan's birthday.

http://www.childrensplacekc.org/

I also liked that it was a tangible way for Max and Sullivan to see how they could spread kindness with their own two hands.

Trying to choose the perfect book for each backpack.

The primary reason we were there volunteering was to pack food, so we started by organizing the assembly line.  Max had bugged me for a snack the entire car ride there so when the food was brought in to be unloaded I thought he'd beg me for something off of the cart to eat.  But, surprisingly, not a word about anything for himself.  

The boys dutifully unloaded chocolate pudding packs, applesauce, oranges and mac & cheese onto the tables.  The same items that cause major meltdowns at the store if they don't make their way into our cart were being passed up for other kids who needed them.  Watching my boys serve a purpose with pride made my heart full.

They worked so hard unloading all of the food and packing the backpacks they were rewarded with a little time to play as well...

They have some cool toys here!

 I love my sweet boys and their big hearts.  

Thanks again to everyone who attended Sully's party and contributed books to give!