Monday, October 27, 2014

A Sister's Gift

When we have birthday parties, they are rather simple affairs... no big parties here. We love each other and we like to spend time together, but we don't make things too elaborate. The birthday person chooses the meal, dessert and activity for the evening and we all give gifts. We don't spend a lot of money... but sometimes we buy gifts or make them. I encourage thoughtfulness and discourage throwing a lot of money at gifts.


Many times, the kids will ask if I have something they can buy from me for a sibling...like when the boys are stumped for a "girl" gift.... or when someone just doesn't know what to give. I try to watch at garage sales for special little gifts to have on hand.

I like that they care about giving each other something... the gift is not the important thing, but the love behind it is.... and the gift is fun too. :) 

Well, this son's birthday came at a super busy time... several had been sick, I was really weak and tired, etc.  My older daughter helped make the meal.. and I made the dessert. When we came to the opening of the gifts that night, this was a gift I had not seen or heard anything about. I was so surprised over this gift... and my heart was touched.  It was from our youngest daughter to one of her brothers who loves to play with the oldest brother's dog... Sherlock.
 I questioned her as to who helped her make this... no one did. I felt proud of her... and also sad that I had been too busy to help her.

I asked how she had done this... she found a board in the garage that was the right size.. and drew a picture on it.  She used a slotted screw driver to push into the wood to form the picture and then painted it... with markers. :)

She somehow made this hole in the back and it really will hold the picture on the wall... she has it deeper up inside the top, so that a screw or nail will nest up in there and stay secure. I am amazed that she figured this all out on her own. We are a family who does a lot of projects, but she has never done anything like this... or even worked in the garage. In fact, I would have said she would be unable to do it, if I had been asked.

I was so pleased with her initiative to go ahead and do something on her own, but as I said, I also feel so sad not to have been available to help her... or direct a brother to help her.  She is learning traits that I want her to learn... and she certainly put herself out to do this.  The gift is certainly precious to me... she really surprised me. By the way, Sherlock is a black lab... and she did a really good job of making the picture. I didn't even know she could draw this. Sigh. I am thankful that our kids learn what we teach them... and I am glad they take what we teach them.... and learn on their own also. :)

What a blessing to see our children grow and become capable...  Thank you for joining me today. I hope you have a wonderful week. :)





 
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14 comments:

  1. This is just fantastic, thank you for sharing on Good Morning Mondays. Your daughter sounds like such a blessing.

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    1. Thank you... she is very precious. :) Thank you for the link up...

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  2. Well done indeed! It's definitely recognisable as a Lab and a tribute to the sensible upbringing that is obviously central to your family's life. Long may it continue - and be appreciated by everyone! Nice story too!

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    1. What a wonderful and encouraging comment! Thank you so much. I am glad to "meet" you and am so glad you visited. :)

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  3. What a great job! I love that she came up with the idea and executed it all on her own! As a parent who strives to teach her child independence, I say good job!

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    1. Thank you - it sure surprised and amazed me... I treasure this and am so glad I found out about it. :) Thank you for visiting.

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  4. Allow yourself some grace friend! As parents we are not able to do everything but how wonderful that she created something so beautiful to give away. Have a wonderful week!

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    1. It was wonderful... and thank you for the sweet words of encouragement. What a joy to read them. :)

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  5. I love the fact that your daughter to some initiative and created a beautiful picture for her brother all on her own. I bet she was of proud of it as you are:) Thanks so much for linking up to Teach Me Tuesday last week. You are very much appreciated. Starting this week, we will no longer be visiting you, instead we will be pinning each and every link. We want to give you more exposure! Hope to see you again this week!!

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    1. I love it too... and I was especially surprised that she didn't even show anyone... until he opened it.... What a blessing that gift was to my son..... and to me. :)

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