[attach]10811[/attach] Because the best things in life aren’t things.
因为生活中最好的事情不是事情本身。
Posted Dec 16, 2015
Whenever there was a decent Midwestern snowfall, my brothers and I had to shovel ‘Old Lady Jenson’s’ walk before we did our own. Why? She was always in a foul mood and never said ‘thank you.’ Dad’s answer? ‘In life, you get what you give,’ whatever that meant. One fine spring day, my younger brother sent a baseball through her upstairs window. What we got back was a surprise and a gift. Not police, but an apple pie with a note; “Dear Pruett Boys, We are square. The window repair cost me 7 shoveled walks. The pie is for your parents. They deserve it for making you do it.” She seemed nicer after that. For the first time, I thought about random acts of kindness, and about being taught that in life you get what you give.
每当（美国）中部地区下雪时，我的兄弟和我必须先把詹逊老奶奶常走的路上的雪铲干净再铲我们自家的。为什么呀？她总是脾气很糟糕而且从来不说“谢谢你”。父亲的回答是什么呢？“在生活中，你给与什么就会得到什么，”不管这意味着什么。在一个天气很好的春日里，我弟弟把一个篮球扔到了詹逊老奶奶楼上的窗户里。结果我们得到的是一个惊喜和一个礼物。来的不是警察而是一个苹果派和一张纸条；“亲爱的普鲁特家的男孩们，我们两清了。修缮窗户的费用抵消掉7铲雪的路程。苹果派是送给你们父母的。因为他们教育出这么好的你们，所以他们值得得到这个派。”似乎从此之后她和善了很多。第一次我思考了随意的和善行为，并且从中学习到在你的生命中你得到的就是你给与的。
My favorite forever gifts could provide long-term value for your child:
我最爱的永久性礼物会给你的孩子提供长期的价值：
Give to the community. Take your children when the community garden or other local service project asks for volunteers. Introduce them to the organizer, and if they have them, bring their own tools. It has to be personal for a young child to make the connection that volunteering is giving.
奉献社区。当社区花园或者其他地方服务项目需要志愿者时，带上你的孩子。把他们介绍给组织者，如果组织者接受了孩子，就让孩子们带上自己的工具。这对小孩子来说一定是一个有个性的建立联系的方式，而这个机会就是志愿者组织给予的。
Focus on someone in need. Identify a family (through a local service agency or faith-based organization) that has fallen on hard times as a result of a reason that a young child can understand and empathize with in an age-appropriate way (house fire, person becomes seriously ill, a pet dies). Together with your child, go through his or her closets, bookshelves and toy chests and ask the child to choose items to give to this particular family. Then have the child see you do the same.
关注需要帮助的人。确定一个因为某种原因落入艰难时刻的家庭（通过地方服务机构或基于某种信仰的组织来确定），这个引发原因能够以一种符合孩子年龄的方式被孩子理解并同情（家中起火、有人得了很严重的病、宠物去世）。和你的孩子一起，查看他的或她的衣柜、书架以及玩具柜并且让孩子选择一些东西送给这个特殊的家庭。然后，让孩子看见你也做了相同的事情。
Pay it forward. Take your child on a shopping expedition for a gift he or she will give to another child (of approximate age) outside of your family’s circle. This is a tough one, especially for those in the pre-K range (an age known for the ‘gimmies’), but your child can learn from you how to separate needs from wishes.
把爱传递出去。带你的孩子去购买一个礼物，他或她将会把这个礼物送给你们家庭系统以外的年龄相近的小朋友。这是一件艰难的事情，尤其是对学龄前的小朋友而言（学龄前是一个只知道“给我”的年龄），但是你的孩子能够从你身上学习到如何将需要和愿望分开。
Random acts of kindness. Late one night driving home from a soccer tournament, I needed coffee. As we pulled up to the drive-through window, the cashier, with a hint of surprise in his young voice said, “The lady in the car ahead paid for you - no charge.” I recognized neither the car nor the driver. I handed him the ten bucks I already had in hand and said, “OK, take care of the car behind us.” He smiled and said, “Hey…this is fun…OK!”, as I drove off without checking my rearview mirror. My children were agape in the back seat; ‘Dad! You didn’t have to do that!’ ‘Exactly,’ I replied. ‘That’s exactly what makes it feel so good to do.’
随意的善意行为。某天深夜我在国际学校友谊足球决赛后驱车返家，我需要一杯咖啡。当我们停在汽车专用窗口（免下车点餐专用道窗口）前，那个收银员，年轻的声音里带着一丝丝惊讶地说道，“前面那辆车上的女士已经为您付了钱——您可以免费。”我不认识那辆车也不认识那个司机。我将早已经攥在手里的十美元递给他，说“那好吧，照顾一下我们后面的那辆车。”他微笑了一下说，“嘿……这可真有趣……好吧！”我开车离开了，没有看一眼后视镜。后座上的孩子目瞪口呆地说：“爸爸！你完全不用这样做！”“没错！”，我回答。“这样做完全是为了这么做的感觉非常棒。”
