GENEROSITY
“Do you want the rest of my cereal?” my youngest son asks.
“I do!” I answer.
Every meal, he always leaves a bite. Every meal, I gladly finish his plate.
We both know that it’s a game, that if he leaves a bite and I eat it, he is freed from his plate-cleaning and putting in the dishwasher duties.
I don’t mind. First, in performance of Dad Duties, I still take enjoyment and pride in finishing all the scraps left on plates at the end of meals. Second, I know that in playing the game, he is learning a takeaway life-lesson.
Generosity.
It shows in more than his scraps of meals he saves for me so as not to clean his plate. It shows on the times he grabs a blanket and covers me when I’m tired and about to fall asleep, whether sports game or family movie. It shows in the many small and subtle ways—small and subtle ways that are really big—he shows he loves and cares.
Maybe all of life’s a game, and we’re here for a time to learn and live its lessons as best as we are able: generosity, love, and care being but a few.