Monthly Archives: November 2022

Choosing Gifts for Children

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by Pat Lamb (Author of: Let the Children Come; Children, Come to Me; When the Stars Fall Down; Widening the Church Doors to Teach the Narrow Way; My Thinking Book; Love is…) Books are available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble; www.patlambchristianauthor.com

Train up a child

Choosing Gifts for Children

            When our children were young, there were some Christmas days that my husband and I would look at each other in bewilderment as we watched our children open their presents, set them aside, and start playing with the cardboard boxes they came in! We had put much time and effort into selecting what we thought was just the right gift, yet they enjoyed the boxes more than what they had contained. It is easy to spend a good deal of money and time and still not come up with the right gift. 

         We all like to see children have fun and be happy on Christmas morning.  It is a temptation to overspend to make sure that the children will not be disappointed.  Sometimes we buy a gift, and then not feeling sure we chose the right gift, we go and buy another gift.  Where does it stop?

         It is great to give a gift that the kids really like and have fun with.  It is even greater if they can have fun and learn something valuable at the same time.

         Money spent on educational toys is money well invested.  It is unfortunate that there are also toys on the market that have little or no learning value and break easily.  Those toys are a waste of money.  Some last only a few minutes.  We, as parents and grandparents, need to use wisdom in deciding whether the toy asked for by a child is really the best purchase.  I have never been excited over Disney creations.  They may be alright but what do they really teach?  I see very little, if any, learning value in them.  Barbie dolls may actually have a negative effect on children.  After all, what kind of goals do we want our children to have?  I was glad when our daughter decided that she did not want to encourage our granddaughter to get excited about Barbie dolls.  Someone gave our granddaughter a Barbie book when she was small.  I was astonished when I read it to her and found what the book was about. Barbie was sad because she wasn’t going to get to model in a show until another model broke her leg, and she got the job after all.  Are we teaching our children to profit by the misfortune of others?

         We need to consider, also, that many toys are made overseas.  We may want to wash or sterilize some before the children play with them.  They may be made in factories that are not sanitary and come on ships a long way.  Someone told me that they worked one Christmas season unpacking toys that came from overseas and a big blue bug flew out of a box.  Everyone was sent out of the room while it was fumigated.  The children who got those toys not only got toys that had had bugs on them, but had also been sprayed with insect killer.  

         Let us keep our emotions under control and carefully think through the selection of gifts for our children.  

Which is Best? Giving or Receiving?

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by Pat Lamb (Author of: Let the Children Come; Children, Come to Me; When the Stars Fall Down; Widening the Church Doors to Teach the Narrow Way; My Thinking Book; Love is…) Books are available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, www.patlambchristianauthor.com

Train up a child…

 Giving or Receiving? Which is Best?

In today’s world, it seems that most of the focus on raising children centers around what we can do for them.  The truth is, children learn much more by what they do for others and participating in events rather than simply being onlookers.

As Christmas approaches, let us incorporate children in as many activities as possible.  There is actually more self satisfaction in giving an appropriate gift than in getting a gift that children think they “just have to have”!  How often have we seen children receive a gift just to have it set aside after a few days?  On the other hand, when they give an appropriate gift, they have a sense of self-satisfaction that cannot be matched.

When our youngest son was in the upper elementary grades, he took a shop class.  His teacher wisely had the students make a gift for their parents.  I remember how he had this unusually happy look on his face as he tried in many ways to get me to encourage him to tell me what he had for me for Christmas!  I was tempted to give in, but I didn’t.  He went for days with a beaming face.  He was feeling a real sense of satisfaction!

Finally Christmas morning came.  He kept watching me to see when I was going to open his gift to me.  Finally the gift was handed to me and I opened it.  It was a gumball dispenser made with two slabs of wood and a pint jar filled with gumballs on top.  There was a third piece of wood that slid in and out with two holes drilled in it.  When it was pulled out, two gumballs filled the holes and a nail was there to pry them out!  What a nice gift!  

Last Christmas when our son’s family came to visit, I put out the gum ball dispenser for his two sons to enjoy.  They certainly did enjoy it!

The experience that our son had of making the gift for me far outweighs the pleasure he got by his gifts.  I doubt if he can remember any gifts he got that Christmas, but I’m sure he remembers making and giving the gift to me!

Experience is the Best Teacher

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by Pat Lamb (Author of: Let the Children Come; Children, Come to Me; When the Stars Fall Down; Widening the Church Doors to Teach the Narrow Way; My Thinking Book; Love is… )

Books are available on Amazon; Barnes & Noble, or www.patlambchristianauthor.com

Train up a child…

Experience is the Best Teacher

Have you noticed that many times our children don’t seem to know how to do some of the simplest things?  Also, how many times have you heard that “kids are so ungrateful” for what they have?  Could it be that the reason for both of these concerns is that children don’t realize what goes into the act of providing and caring for them?

Many times I have heard grandparents say, “I just can’t resist giving things to my grandchildren when they ask”.  My thought is that they shouldn’t be asking in the first place.  We need to teach children to provide for self as much as possible   In doing so, they learn about the effort that goes into obtaining the wanted item or items.  They learn how to do chores, save money, and most of all they will have a greater appreciation of what they receive.

There are many things that children can do to help out.  Even very small children can do simple chores.  Older children learn much from tasks given them.  When a child asks for money, (which they actually shouldn’t be doing unless it is a necessity for school, etc.) there are certainly many things they can do to help around the home. What are some of those things???

Children can sweep or vacuum.  They can wash windows.  They can wash dishes, sweep the garage, pick up things, help repair broken things, organize their play area or room, have a yard sale in a safe community, pull weeds, rake leaves, sweep sidewalks, clean refrigerator, mow the lawn, etc.   The list goes on and on.  Not only do they learn the value of work, but they will appreciate what they get much more than if the money is just handed to them.  They learn that “money doesn’t grow on trees” as my folks used to tell me.  

It isn’t surprising that many times the children will take better care of what they have earned.  Sometimes they even change their minds and decide that thing they wanted isn’t that important after all!  We do our children a great disservice when we just give them things when they have no effort involved!

How to Raise Thankful Kids

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by Pat Lamb

Author of: Let the Children Come; Children, Come to Me; When the Stars Fall Down; Widening the Church Doors to Teach the Narrow Way; My Thinking Book; Love is… (Books are available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and www.patlambchristianauthor.com)

Train up a child..

How to Raise Thankful Children

Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!

For His mercy endures forever. Psalm 118:29 NKJV

We’ve probably all heard comments about the “ungrateful” children of today.  It’s too bad that the children get so much blame for being ungrateful when it is mostly the fault of those who are raising them!  Here are some ideas of how to raise “grateful” children:

1) Don’t praise children too much.  Praise should be for specific things.  When a child is constantly told how special s/he is, they begin to believe it.  They feel no need to try to improve.  After all, they have been told they are wonderful the way they are.  

2) Children should not be given too much.  Yes, they should be given birthday and Christmas presents, but when they earn what they get, they appreciate it more.  They develop a feeling of appreciation for what it takes to obtain what they have, and they are more selective about what they want.  Many children are capable of doing yard sales in a safe community, working to earn money by doing chores, checking sales slips for errors, etc.  “Necessity is the mother of inventions!”  We don’t give children enough credit for what they can do.

3) Teach children how to work.  They can do chores for neighbors and  fix things around the house.  They can go to work with parents to see what the parents have to do to earn money to support them.

4) Teach them to improvise.  When they don’t have exactly what they want, many times what they have can be used to accomplish the activity.

5) Insist that they write thank you notes or tell a giver “thank you” for what they receive..

6) Help them plant and care for what they planted to raise vegetables.  Many things can be raised in pots on the patio or deck.  Children learn about what it takes to provide their food.

7) Take children to visit a food plant to see people working to provide the food that goes on the shelves at the grocery store.

These are a few simple things that can be done to help children appreciate what they have.  When they sit down to eat and say “thank you” to God, they can really mean it!