When your children are young, they’re going be monsters, adorable, yes, but monsters all the same. There’s no way around that; they will scream, cry, break stuff, pull hair, make messes, and do all the other monstrous activities that monsters do. That part is normal, but it’s your responsibility to raise your kids to leave their monster-like habits behind once they grow older. Here’s a great, simple lesson that can help de-monsterfy your adorable little monsters:
Teach Them to Give Back
Empathy is one of the biggest differences when it comes to monsters and their empathetic counterparts. Teaching your children that there is always going to be less fortunate people struggling in the world will help them be much more empathetic. If you translate that understanding into actually giving back and making a difference, your child will grow into a loving non-monster.
Teach your kid that donating anything, from their old toys to their allowance, can help improve the lives of less fortunate people. Clothing donations certainly help as well. On a global scale, more than 14.3 million tons of donated textiles help clothe struggling families every year.
According to ABC News, one adorable little not monster is doing a great job helping needy families.
Kaden Newton, 7-year-old ex-monster, was already donating to a community food bank when he realized the pantry didn’t have any fun, kid-food products.
“They didn’t have like, Chef Boyardee or pancake mix,” said Newton.
So he, with a little help from his parents, started his own non-profit, Mac and Cheese and Pancakes, to collect fun food donations and give back to the community. Newton created a wish food list on Amazon and posted about his idea on social media. After only a week or two, Kaden’s organization received more than 7,000 items (crushing his original goal of 100 items), with much more on the way.
“It’s cool that we have this much food here,” Kaden added. “We have Goldfish, juice, granola bars, soup, pasta, [and] definitely mac-and-cheese.”
Every child in the world doesn’t have to donate thousands of food items to charity to lose their monster status (although it would’t hurt), but showing them the importance of giving back can put them on the right track in life and give them the opportunity to truly make it difference.