Simple Gifts
June 11, 2008 by Deborah Ng
Filed under Simple Pleasures, Simpler Thinking
Today is my son’s birthday. We had a party with friends and family over the weekend, and tonight is just for the immediate family. He asked for barbecued burgers for dinner and said the leftover cake from Sunday is perfect and I shouldn’t get another, is this my kid or what?
We bought some gifts we know he’d like such as a bird house making kit and a children’s book of gardening tips. I was thinking of some of the other gifts we’ve given throughout the years - the ones that don’t come wrapped in pretty paper or cost money. You see, my husband and I are creative types and encourage that creativity in our son. My husband used to be a carpenter and is still pretty darn good with his hands. Our son helps him in the basement work shop and even has his own screwdriver, hammer and ratchet.
Through me our son has developed a love of gardening and writing. Plus he designs buildings in his sketch pads, mostly dog houses, and helps my husband or I cook and bake for each night’s dinner. He especially likes helping to bake treats for dessert. His favorite meal is salad made from fresh garden vegetables.
When we plant corn or weed the strawberry patch together my son will repeat things I said the past year or year before that, making me so proud of what he’s choosing to retain. At my very first meeting with his kindergarten teacher last November she was proud to tell me he was the only one in his class who could identify a cardinal or knew marigolds helped keep the aphids out of the tomato garden.
My son knows to go with the grain when sanding and the difference between using a dry or wet rub on smoked ribs. He writes and illustrates small books - usually about dogs, cats or mean mommies who make their kids clean the room instead of playing Wii, and can measure out the perfect amount of vanilla for our strawberry pancakes. Can you tell I’m proud?
We parents buy so many gifts throughout the years, and most of them aren’t carried through with them into adulthood. It’s the simple gifts, the gifts that don’t cost anything they’ll remember for life. Today, as I’m typing this on my son’s sixth birthday, I’m watching him pick strawberries and pull out some weeds and I’m amazed at how gentle he is with the plants. It hits me that he’s listening and paying attention even when I think he’s not. This reminds me he’s giving some wonderful gifts of his own.
What are some of the simple gifts you give to your kids?
Image via stock.xchnge
LRN
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Thanks.
I love that your son is like this. I remember my kids being horrified when a neighbor kid wanted to smush a spider outside in my garden. LOL Emily my 8 year old is much like your son. She’s my fairy child, who loves all things gardening, the woods and nature. I think one of the best gifts we can give our kids is to teach them to observe nature in the world around them–the small things. They learn to nurture and care about people, animals and plants.
Today is my son’s birthday as well! But he’s 7 years old now. He loves the outdoors as well ans suggested we make a nature journal this summer- drawing and writing about the plants and animals in our yard and all the places we go this summer!