“Do you know what Firemen do? Police Officers do? Nurses and Doctors?” I asked.
Annora replied, “Yes. Firemen get to ride in red fire trucks, police officers help people and get bad guys and nurses and doctors take care of boo boos.”
Oh the simplicity of a child and the way they think! So black and white and nothing seems to ever be gray. They are constantly trying to figure this world out and figure out where they fit in. It wasn’t until I had this discussion with Annora that I realized I had done her a disservice. She had been exposed to the bare minimum when it came to professions and “heroes” in the community. She had NO IDEA that these people put themselves selflessly on the line to help others in a desperate time of need.
It just so happened that our church decided to participate in a national event called “Serve Day.” Churches around the US collaborated together to go out into their local communities and serve others. Anywhere from serving lunch at a nursing home, paying for people to do their laundry at the laundromat, free car washes in a local neighborhood, organizing and restocking the shelves at the local Habitat for Humanity, cleaning up parks, and feeding the local fire station lunch as a THANK YOU for their service to the community. It was a FANTASTIC opportunity to serve others, get the kids involved in serving, AND it provided me TONS of teachable moments to my 4.5 year old little daughter.
“Serve Day” in the Ann Arbor, MI community.
The drive to and from the fire station where we were providing lunch to the local firemen was a solid 1 hour 5 minutes. PERFECT opportunity for me to really express what local heroes do for each and every one of us. How they selflessly put their life on the line to keep us safe. I started with a story about how, as a child, I used to be scared of firefighters because sometimes they wore scary outfits. We chatted a bit about that and why they wear the gear they do. The conversations quickly turned into a question asking event. She asked about the fire dog and if we would meet him, she asked about if she would be able to honk the horn and hear the sirens, she asked if the firemen would be dressed in their scary gear, she asked if she could eat lunch with them and why they “blow” fires out. She was curious beyond belief! It was then that I decided to make a shift from all of the cool things firemen are and do to why they are so important. I explained that it is important for us to give back to them because they give so much to us EVERY DAY! That we are taking them lunch to “Pay it Forward.” That life is precious and they do what it takes to keep everyone safe. After the firemen lesson, we moved into police officers, doctors and nurses with a similar conversations and teachable moments.
On our way home, Annora expressed her LOVE for giving back and saying “Thank you” for a job well done. She was ecstatic to meet a “real” firemen and shake his hand. With a small grin on my own face, I knew she had learned a valuable lesson. Teachable moments are all around…it is up to us, the parent, to expound on them.
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