Teaching our kids how to be Thankful and Give

The chaos is here.

We’ve reached it. Peak holiday season with parades, parties, a different designated shopping purpose for each day and hours of cheesy holiday movies. I love this time of year with all the chaos and excitement, but it’s easy to get a bit caught up. I realize how fortunate I am to have a warm house to host dinners, plenty of friends to send holiday cards to and family to make memories with. I also contemplate how to teach my children to be compassionate humans that understand many others aren’t as fortunate. (Read my ways for adults to give from last year.)

As I think about teaching my kids empathy, my hope is that they learn it by following my example. At this young age it is hard to know what will sink it. Earlier this year I shared the Summer of Service project our kids did based on research showing that kids learn when they can see a direct correlation between their involvement and the issue they are addressing. With that said, I also believe it is important that we teach our children at a young age that giving back is enjoyable. The real secret is finding ways to make a difference using our own passions and skills, while bringing visibility to important issues.

How kids can give.

Each year many organizations provide holiday meals for the community. The Charlotte Rescue Mission is one of those organizations. In addition to needing volunteers to prepare and serve the meals on the holiday, they need help providing the actual food. For those who miss getting a sought-after spot on the day of volunteer lists, there is also the need for turkeys and desserts.

And desserts. They need lots and lots of desserts to feed over an expected 1,000 individuals. A new Charlotte business, Sweet Spot Studio, decided to make a dent in that number. Owner Jossie Lukacik opened up her baking studio and invited fellow female business owners, through the Live Loud Collective, to join her for a night of baking. I signed Rory and I up as she loves cooking and I liked the idea of opening her eyes a bit more. Click through the photos below to see our cooking adventure.

See how clean everything is before we start.

Jossie and her team had all the ingredients ready for us when we showed up.

What it takes to make pumpkin chocolate chip brownies.

We were too messy to take pics of them before they popped in the oven.

Jossie did a great job explaining every part. I learned so much about baking.

To be honest, she’s a better baker than I am.

You can’t see the pumpkin all over my butt from this angle.

The secret to mini cheesecakes are the Cinnamon Bun Oreos used as the crust.

We made about this many but these batches are prettier. Let’s pretend.

Spending time with my daughter was a blast and learning new baking tips was an added bonus. But the best part was getting to do something for others with her. She was really curious about who would be eating these desserts and where the meal was happening. She wanted to know if we could go help serve the meal. At eight years old, having conversations like that is a win. Let’s be honest, though. She also asked if I could sign her up for the Cake Pop class coming up… (You should definitely check out the classes coming up for Sweet Spot Studio. I love awesome women-owned businesses who generally care about giving back.)

If you’d like to further support the Charlotte Rescue Mission, make sure you learn about the new Community Matters Cafe. This will be a full-service restaurant and coffee shop in the 100-year-old building next door to their Rebound campus. Its focus is to teach life skills to graduates of Charlotte Rescue Mission’s residential substance abuse recovery program. It doesn’t need to be a holiday to give back. They need volunteers year round.