As part of G’s birthday traditions through the years, we want him to donate at least one of his gifts to a child in need to teach him to not be an asshole as he grows up.
I put it like this:
I want Russ to grow up to be compassionate. I want him to want to help others. I want giving to just be a part of who he is. And yes, I don't want him to grow up to be an ___.
How do you teach one to be compassionate? I have a good guy friend, Charlie, who is always volunteering. I don't know many dudes who volunteer because they want to; usually they have to be pushed into it by a nagging wife or are trying to impress some hot girl. When I asked Charlie what got him so involved, he said his parents were always involved with a charity or volunteering at special events. He said he didn't know anything else. Now that he is grown, he and his wife, Lindsay, spend a lot of time together helping others.
SO, Evan and I wanted to start Russ out early too. This year we adopted an Angel. I picked an 11 year old boy names Jahmon for 2 reasons: 1) His name reminds me of Michael Jackson 2) His one wish was for legos. Side note: Evan has tried to buy Russ legos 47 times. Apparently they aren't baby appropriate, so he has been bummed about that. When I saw Jahmon wanted legos, I knew he was our Angel. We took a family trip to Target and loaded up on legos and big kid clothes. I just wish we could have seen his face when he opened his gifts. This will definitely be a tradition in our home.
Round 2 of giving happened at our Neighborhood Happy Hour. Our neighborhood is really fun and we have started getting together for food and cocktails once a month. This month we asked that people donate new toys and books for the kids at Scottish Rite Hospital. Russ, our cute neighbor Ashley, and I delivered the items to the hospital today. It was so easy and the staff was incredibly thankful.
Here is a picture of Russ Man with one of the wagons filled with donations.
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