“Mom, I’m SO happy right now! The Chiefs game is tomorrow!!” he beamed at me.
“Have you ever been this happy about a Lego set?” I asked him.
“No,” he replied, grinning ear to ear.
“Max, this is EXACTLY why we got you Chiefs tickets for your birthday instead of a new Lego set,” I told him. (Sidenote: I have nothing against Legos… I think they’re awesome! But we already have WAY too many!)
This was our conversation on Saturday night. Sunday morning, he woke up early and was so excited he didn’t know what to do with himself. He and Josh went to the Chiefs game and watched them beat the Cleveland Browns to continue their undefeated season at 8-0. They had an incredible time at the Chiefs game, screaming their heads off. Josh did tell me that Max started crying when it was 20-17 and it looked like Cleveland would score to go ahead. I expected that from my sensitive little guy though!
One of the best parts about this whole situation was getting the opportunity to talk to Max about WHY we choose to give experiences for gifts instead of things. And for him to really understand. Because when kids understand the reasons that we choose to do certain things, they can begin to see the value in those decisions. And I’m pretty sure that Max won’t ask for toys next time… he’ll be plotting up fun and exciting experiences without prompting!
So for our family, explaining the why means talking about how we used to do things, how we do them now, and why we made the change. This time around, it went something like this:
“When you guys were little, we showered you with gifts. Our birthdays and Christmases were out of control, beautifully wrapped presents piled up everywhere. I grew up really poor and never had a lot of presents, so I wanted to spoil you guys with toys. It took us many years, but we finally figured out that having tons of toys doesn’t really make you happier. We just end up spending money on all these things that you play with for a few weeks and then forget about. So now, when your birthdays roll around, we focus on giving you super fun experiences instead of a new Lego set. We’re pretty sure you’ll never forget going to your first Chiefs game, but you’ll forget about the toy airplanes by this time next year.”
Cultivating memorable experiences for our kids is just one way we’re being intentional about the way we’re raising our family. Want to learn more about intentional parenting? Join us for our next intentional parenting e-course that starts in January!
P.S. All photos were shot with an iPhone 5 as you are not allowed to bring a professional camera into Arrowhead Stadium.
