Okay, here's the follow-up on that last post: If I want to instill Hope in my daughter, and I want that Hope to be bigger than just her own personal hope for the future, then I need to focus on a broader vision of Hope for the World. There are infinite ways to do this, and I don't want to downplay any of them. Clearly, the Lupus Foundation wants junk, and I will gladly clean out my closets for them. Soon, I'll be looking for a great place to donate used toys. But, for anyone who has ever been given a box of hand-me-downs, you'll understand how exciting it is to find something with the tags still attached. For some reason, it's like an additional gift in a box of already free stuff. And so I've been thinking about those NEW things. I think that the next time I donate clothes, I'm going to go out and buy something new, just to throw in. I hate shopping, but I hate it because I don't like trying on clothes and staying within a budget. But if I just gave myself $20 to buy something fun -- something that I may never wear myself, I might just enjoy that.
And what a great lesson for my kid! Do you remember begging for toys as a kid? Half the fun of getting a new toy was picking it out. Usually, it ended up in the corner within a week because it wasn't that great to play with. So, I think that along with just saying "No" when she begs for toys, I'd like to also mix in some Hope on a few shopping trips. "Mommy, can I have a new doll?" can be answered with, "No, you don't need another doll. But if you'd like to pick one out, we can take it to the Children's Hospital this weekend." That may sound like a lot of work, and it may turn out to be too much for me, but it's something I'd like to attempt.
As far as a habit to start, what I'd like to do is this: Every time I go shopping, I'd like to buy something to donate. Ideally, I would look at my full cart and either choose one thing to give, or one thing to put back to get something else to donate. But I know what would happen is that I'd buy everything I would have anyway, plus something else. I realize that's part of the idea behind charitable donations -- beyond your normal expenses, but I'm not sure I could afford it on every shopping trip. Plus, there would be an additional problem once I got home. Then, I'd just have to start a pile or a closet to fill with new things to donate. And that would really just frustrate me, and I'd quit the whole thing.
Am I just making excuses? This is an experiment, after all. Maybe for the rest of this month, I'll try this. Then, I'll evaluate the financial and organizational situations.
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