My Children’s Basic Needs

My children are spoiled. This is not a surprise to me. They are provided beyond their basic needs, and they are oblivious to what they could be doing without. They are held accountable when they do wrong, they have kind hearts, and they are joyous boys. That does not change the fact that they more than they need. As a family, we always make a point to adopt families during the holidays. We want our children to see how to reach out and help others openly — without expecting something in return. They always do, however they do not realize how easily that could be them. They are blind to the idea that we have to provide them with what they have. The food, clothing, toys do not come naturally to them.

The guilt for me as a parent came this past weekend. My husband and I unexpectedly opened our home to two foster children. A brother and a sister — precious souls.

Working with children daily as a first grade teacher, the idea of different social demographics is nothing new. Seeing children without items other have does not surprise me, however, the whole process got my heart the moment they walked in. They were grateful for an apple. Waffles for breakfast was beyond excitement. They were relieved they had their own beds. The sweet kiddos could not believe we had internet.

Y’all, what we consider our basic needs are nothing compared to theirs. The realization that we set our children’s expectations for needs has been weighing hard on me this week.