This is wonderful. I grew up poor and in fifth grade there was a gift exchange. I privately asked the teacher if I could not participate because I couldn’t afford a gift for another child. Of course I knew I wouldn’t receive a gift either. When the gift exchange came, to my surprise my name was called. My teacher had bought a few small gifts for me so I wouldn’t be excluded. I’ve never forgotten that act of generosity.
There was a poor immigrant boy at my high school with a horrible cleft palate. He was teased constantly. One day my Mom picked me up and saw the boy. She asked me about him and I gave her some brief answers.
My mother contacted the school and got the parents information. They spoke no English, and so were too intimidated/scared to take him in for government supported health care. She walked them through the entire process over a few weeks.
He was gone for a week and returned to school looking very different. Remembering my mother's interest in him, I came home and told her "hey, that boy got surgery" Only then did I find out what she'd been up to for the last few weeks.
Caring mothers ftw.
Edit: this response really resonated with so many of you! Thank you for the many kind comments about my mother.
Well, I know what I'm doing on my daughter's next birthday.
She's very good friends with a refugee in our village - he's one of 6 kids being taken care of by a single father. The boy is out later than everyone else, going from friend's house to friend's house looking for someone to play with and somewhere to get more attention than he does at home. Some days, we are busy with something else or my daughter doesn't want to play and it is a bit heartbreaking to send him away.
He is a great and happy kid, well-behaved and creative. I never really thought about how he might be aware of what he doesn't have compared to everyone else, but I think this is a perfect way to help him to deal with that if it is an issue for him.
EasternDelight on November 24th, 2018 at 17:27 UTC »
This is wonderful. I grew up poor and in fifth grade there was a gift exchange. I privately asked the teacher if I could not participate because I couldn’t afford a gift for another child. Of course I knew I wouldn’t receive a gift either. When the gift exchange came, to my surprise my name was called. My teacher had bought a few small gifts for me so I wouldn’t be excluded. I’ve never forgotten that act of generosity.
joespizza2go on November 24th, 2018 at 17:34 UTC »
There was a poor immigrant boy at my high school with a horrible cleft palate. He was teased constantly. One day my Mom picked me up and saw the boy. She asked me about him and I gave her some brief answers.
My mother contacted the school and got the parents information. They spoke no English, and so were too intimidated/scared to take him in for government supported health care. She walked them through the entire process over a few weeks.
He was gone for a week and returned to school looking very different. Remembering my mother's interest in him, I came home and told her "hey, that boy got surgery" Only then did I find out what she'd been up to for the last few weeks.
Caring mothers ftw.
Edit: this response really resonated with so many of you! Thank you for the many kind comments about my mother.
Conflictingview on November 24th, 2018 at 18:06 UTC »
Well, I know what I'm doing on my daughter's next birthday.
She's very good friends with a refugee in our village - he's one of 6 kids being taken care of by a single father. The boy is out later than everyone else, going from friend's house to friend's house looking for someone to play with and somewhere to get more attention than he does at home. Some days, we are busy with something else or my daughter doesn't want to play and it is a bit heartbreaking to send him away.
He is a great and happy kid, well-behaved and creative. I never really thought about how he might be aware of what he doesn't have compared to everyone else, but I think this is a perfect way to help him to deal with that if it is an issue for him.