I’m not really sure what to say to all of that except that for me, it just doesn’t feel right. I’m not against giving gifts or cars to kids. As long as we are aware of how we can teach them, to give. Giving is the opposite of entitlement. And I really admire some moms who get it right. They give experiences instead of expensive toys. They’re great role models for me and how I’d like my kids to view the world.

Showing your kids a different side of life can change their life. Forever. How? One way is to develop a reality based view of the world. My kids are so accustomed to seeing the way orphans and homeless people live that my six year-old wants to downsize. And he means it. “A big home is a waste of money,” he said. “There are other things you can do with the money.”

One mom, Jennifer Birrd, has raised her daughter to serve meals to the homeless every Sunday. Since she was a child, Claudia has been serving meals, time, and love, to the homeless population in Dallas, Texas. Their Open Air Ministries serves chicken, mashed potatoes, and clothing to people who have fallen on hard times. The lesson is invaluable. It’s hard to want the new 4G when you’ve seen a five year-old living on the street in need of food.

I’ve learned a lot by talking to the underprivileged and letting my kids see that other kids live under bridges. This is an eye opener. Sure, they still want material things. But when you expose them to a broader world view you’re not harming them. You’re encouraging them to give.

And as we head back to school, one of the most valuable ways you can build a legacy that creates a difference in the heart of your child is to show them the less fortunate. Keep it simple. If you can’t make it to a shelter, gather food and drop it off at a food pantry.

Take the Give Back Challenge

1. Choose the 1st Sunday of the month for giving. Call your local homeless shelter and bring your kids to serve meals.
2. Bring your kids to am orphanage and donate their old toys. Don’t just write a check. Bring them with you.
3. Pack a suitcase and have your garage filled with water bottles, clothing, and toys. When a disaster hits such as a tornado, or flood, load the kids in the car and give. Don’t try to plan and prepare. Be open to the possibilities that your life might be changed in a good way…forever!

Why do you think it’s important to teach your kids how to give back? What will you do this year with your kids to give back?

Photo courtesy of Flickr.

Tammy Kling is a life coach, advocate for the homeless, and international author of 29 books including The Compass. Tammy is also the founderr of Write it Out, an organization that helps gang members, the homeless, and those living on the street write out their hopes & dreams via writers workshops, free journals and various other resources.

In addition to writing and coaching, Tammy is a mom of two boys, an avid trail and mountain runner, blogger, and adventure travel writer.

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That’s why the people at Dr Pepper Snapple and at KaBoom, a national playground-building nonprofit, have formed a partnership, called Let’s Play, to “help end this play deficit.” I got up close and personal with both organizations this past weekend at the Mom 2 Summit in New Orleans.

Instead of having traditional panel discussions on Saturday afternoon of the conference, the Mom 2 Summit team organized a series of “Go!” activities to help their attendees experience New Orleans. While @TroyPattee, who had joined me at the conference, was on a Jazz Tour sponsored by PBS Kids, I was out in East New Orleans with the Dr Pepper Snapple and KaBoom teams and more than 50 conference attendees helping to build a playground. And it wasn’t just a playground, it was an entire park complete with grow boxes, picnic tables, garbage areas, and more.

According to the Let’s Play website, Dr Pepper Snapple launched Let’s Play to reinforce their commitment to fit and active lifestyles. “For our part,” they say, “we want to be constructive participants in the battle against social issues like obesity, particularly in children. We believe such issues can only be solved through cooperation with everyone taking some share of responsibility and working together. Let’s Play is an important step in helping families achieve a balance when managing calories in and calories out.”

The partnership announced on April 21st that it will award a variety of Let’s Play grants to help build new playgrounds, update existing playgrounds or keep playgrounds open longer. The grants are part a $15 million, three-year commitment to KaBOOM!, the national nonprofit that’s saving play by ensuring that every child has a great place to play within walking distance. Together through Let’s Play, DPS and KaBOOM! will build or fix up 2,000 playgrounds by the end of 2013, benefiting an estimated five million children across North America.

The first five Let’s Play grants to be awarded will go to the winners of the KaBOOM! “Promote Your Playground” video contest, an interactive competition that invites consumers to upload a short video showing why their community needs a playground. The top-10 video entries competing for five $15,000 Let’s Play grants are now available online here. Five of the finalists will be selected by a public vote to win a grant to be used for new playground equipment. The voting period opened online on the 21st and runs through Sunday, May 15.

“Through our partnership with Let’s Play, KaBOOM! is making huge strides in saving play across America,” said Darell Hammond, CEO and founder of KaBOOM!. “DPS (Doctor Pepper Snapple) has demonstrated an amazing show of support through this initiative. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the 15th anniversary of KaBOOM! than with the creation of so many great places to play.”

If you know of a neighborhood in your area that is in need of a playground, share this information or apply for a grant to help KaBoom meet its goal to build 2,000 playgrounds by 2013.

(Featured in Pictures: Dina Freeman and Julie Marsh.)

What’s most interesting is their current campaign with DonorsChoose.org to raise $100,000 for one lucky school, using the internet and a unique voting methodology that involves you. Over 700 schools compiled their list of needs, made videos of their schools and themselves, and submitted them to http://ourschoolneeds.discoverbing.com. Over two days, October 25th and 26th, their entries were available for anyone to rate. The 15 top-rated videos (5 in each category: K-6, 7-9, 10-12), together with an additional 15 entries selected by the Bing editorial committee, will automatically advance to the judges’ panel. The judges will review the entries and select 15 finalists, which will be announced on October 29. Those 15 schools’ entries will then be open for voting again, and the entry that receives the most overall votes will win $100,000. The three schools that receive the most votes in their categories (K-6, 7-9, 10-12) will each receive $50,000. The voting period is open from October 29 until November 7 (Yes! That’s tomorrow! Hurry and vote today.). The winners will be announced on November 9. It’s American Idol with a mission!
Many corporations pick causes; not many use their might and the unique paths that social media offers to actually accomplish goals for their causes. Bing has a platform, a position of prominence that provides a good opportunity for doing something. And they’re doing something big. Imagine what a school could do with $100,000! Imagine the children that emerge from such a school, edified not only by the gift of a generous organization, but also by the knowledge that people they didn’t know took the time to be involved in the process. Imagine what children who have learned well and received much might do as they grow up and join the ranks we adults now inhabit. Bing is a corporation that not only makes money by facilitating organized access to information, but also gives money by facilitating the meeting of schools and everyday people in the unique space of social media. This is the kind of innovation that moves the world forward—one school at a time.

This year, I sat with the list. I stared at it. I considered my options.  Then, I did what any 2010 mom would do: I Googled it. With a little help from the National Education Association’s (NEA) website and an honest soul search, here are my five best reasons to volunteer this year at my daughter’s school:

1.     Teachers Teach More Effectively

According to the NEA, when parents volunteer their time to help out with classroom chores, such as making/taking down bulletin boards, sorting permission slips, and other time-consuming detail-work, they free teachers to spend more time on their field of expertise—educating young minds!

2.    Children Learn Better

NEA statistics indicate that school-aged children whose parents have high levels of involvement in their schools, are more likely to earn high grades and less likely to have ever repeated a grade.

3.     Children Enjoy School More

Likewise, children whose parents volunteer at their school report greater enjoyment of school and show a high level of involvement in extracurriculars, such as sports and clubs.

4.    Children See That You Care About Them and Their Education

It’s not that PTA members are going to “close the door” on volunteers or shut any willing parent out of an opportunity to volunteer, but rather that there is only a short window of time overall that children are young!  As kids move on to middle and high school, the call for parent volunteers wanes. Use it or lose it. Now or never. Make the most of your time in these years to observe your child in his natural landscape, get a feel for the friendships he is involved in, see him through his teachers’ eyes, and send him the message that you care enough to give your time.

5.    Parent Has Opportunities to Bond With Both Child and Teacher

Last year, I was called upon to be my daughter’s “Room Mom.” It wasn’t necessarily a job I wanted, but also not one I had a reason to say “no” to.  The assignment was less than painless—it was fun!  I got to go on a field trip early on in the year which gave me the chance to get to know all of the kids in her class. This proved to be a boon to carrying on meaningful conversations with my daughter about her peer interactions.  Over the course of the year, I sent a few e-mails and organized a few low-key parties, but most of all, I bonded with my daughter and her teacher in a non-intrusive way.

This year, my daughter has asked me several times to be her Room Mom again this year.  I don’t want to be a Room-Mom-hog and would certainly defer the opportunity to another willing parent, but I feel blessed by the fact that my child still welcomes me into her classroom and wants me to be there.  Most kids, in the elementary school years, are still thrilled at having their parents visible and available from time to time in school.  I know I’ll be an embarrassment to her soon enough, so I might as well enjoy the time while I am still a source of pride for her!

Visit Hands On Network to learn more and to find volunteer opportunities in your community.

Catherine is a mother, a blogger, and an online social activist.

She became interested in this new outlet of campaigning after interviewing Gloria Steinem, the feminist icon and founder of New York Magazine. In her interview, Gloria told Catherine, she felt like the new realm of blogospheres was at the forefront of a new kind of revolutionary movement.

“A movement wherein we really talk to one another, and listen to one another,” Gloria told Catherine. “A movement wherein the highest premium is placed on telling the truth, and deriving inspiration and power from the truth. A movement that we further with every post that we write, with every supportive comment that we leave, with every empowering conversation that we spark and fuel and fan to a blaze…”

But with Gloria’s encouragement came a warning.

“Never forget that such a movement, based as it is on dialogue and debate, can only ever be a support for action; It cannot replace action,” she said. “Don’t cocoon in your blogosphere. Don’t mistake speaking or writing for acting. Don’t just talk: do.”

Gloria’s message inspired Catherine to try something new.

“I made it a personal mission to do as much as I could to push myself, and other members of my online community, to use this medium for good, and as a springboard for action,” she said.

From there, she began hosting blog actions- asking bloggers to write about causes they are passionate about- doing online fundraising, and raising awareness through online resources.

What to start campaigning for was clear for Catherine – her nephew is dying of Muscular Dystrophy.

In 2007, Catherine founded the Canadian arm of BlogHer’s social action network, which expanded to include Give Good Blog, a program designed to promote social responsibility in blogging.

“My objective has and remains, basically, to promote the idea that we have an important platform in the Internet and blogging, and that we should use it for good,” she said. “Whether that means using it to raise money for charity or support your favorite cause or simply to make time/space to write about things that make the world a better place, every little bit counts. And it’s as easy as simply writing a post, or tweeting a link to a charity, or passing along review swag to someone who needs it. The little things matter.”

The greatest challenge, Catherine said, was overcoming her hesitation to ask her community for help, whether that means asking for their attention, their effort to promote an issue, or even their donations.

“ … Overcoming that kind of fear/anxiety can be difficult, and I think that we all need to do a better job of reminding each other that it’s okay – it’s good – to ask for support in our causes,” she said.

Fears aside, blogging about social activism is something Catherine fully invests in, as she continues to fight the causes and brings awareness to the issues she believes in.

“The beauty of online social activism – it’s easy; It’s accessible; Anyone can do it,” Catherine said. “If you have a social network, you can do it. If you have a blog, you can do it. Sky’s the limit!”