Just last week, my daughter’s dance studio gave all the girls in her ballet class a cute bag with ballet shaped sugar cookies. How sweet was that! BUT…they of course were not gluten free. Celiac Disease has helped me teach my kids THE POWER OF GIVING. My 5 year old daughter showed great excitement as she showed me those cute cookies. I calmly said, those are so cute, but they are not gluten free. Do you think you could give your cookies to another dancer’s little sister? She immediately smiled and walked over to a cute little 3 year old and gave away her cookies.
No tears. No fit. No feelings of poor me. She was able to freely give her beautiful cookies away without any sadness because of the power of giving. And that is pretty amazing for a child. What power is this? Love.
When we teach our kids to react to challenges with love and reaching out to others, instead of selfishness and thinking about how life isn’t fair, then we are teaching them about the power of giving. Their hearts can be filled with love for others, gratitude for what they can have, and joy as they see another person feel of their love.
I am so grateful for the challenge of celiac disease. It has helped my children grow in so many ways. And the most important one to me is that I observe them loving and serving others more often. I observe them having empathy for others who may be having a hard time. And then, I see that they know what to do. They give of themselves-they give their love.
Generosity seems to be inborn…In a study by University of Washington, children as young as 19 months demonstrated sharing behavior, even when they were in need themselves
https://www.forbes.com/sites/tracybrower/2021/11/28/giving-is-good-for-others-but-also-for-you/?sh=135f926523a1
Generosity is something I think most of us innately feel. Having challenges can bring this trait out even more if we develop it. It’s like a muscle, we need to exercise it. When we encounter times when gluten food is given to our children, we can use those moments to teach giving.
If you are having a hard time processing the big change of celiac disease, my challenge to you is to start giving more. Give of your time, your love, or your gluten food(I gave away SO MUCH FOOD STORAGE when we were diagnosed). And when you get good at making gluten free food, you can give that away( we all know there is a HUGE learning curve) to friends and neighbors.
If you need a simple recipe to help you get back into the groove of taking treats to your neighbors, try these sticky corn chex clusters. They are a hit with all my kids and their friends! My son in junior high has friends that regularly ask when his mom is making more of those treats.
Much love.
Emma
