A Mom's Experience: Volunteering with Kids
I love the experience of volunteering as well as the idea of instilling the values associated with it in my seven year old daughter. But it was hard last Saturday to actually get out of the house in a timely fashion. If your family is like mine, schedules rule the weekdays and there is something precious and satisfying about not having a timetable on the weekend, particularly on Saturday morning. My daughter loves to lounge around in her pajamas watching videos until I put my foot down and turn off the TV. She then finds quiet games to play by herself and tends to lose herself in fantasy worlds- still so real to her for a bit longer.
But last Saturday, I insisted, and got us out of the house before 9:30. We were going to help a co-worker of mine with a volunteer project to canvas the neighborhoods of Springfield, spreading the word about a kindergarten readiness program and the new LaneKids website. My daughter was surprisingly excited about this opportunity. She was patient with the pre canvassing organizing and directions and offered to help carry the door hangers and information we were giving out. She helped hang door hangers on the door handles of those who didn’t answer, included herself in the planning (“You take the upstairs apartments and we’ll start down here”) with our team of three volunteers, and added a general level of enthusiasm to the project. After about an hour and a half she started getting tired and wondering when we were going to head back, but with a little coaxing we made it to the two hour mark. At the very end as we were walking down the street, she was skipping along, singing loudly “My feet hurt!” While the message was that she was “done” it was sung in an upbeat tune.
It felt great to be involved in an important project, to get to include my daughter and to spend time giving back with her. I was so proud of her good attitude and efforts. But I did learn some important lessons on volunteering with kids. Let me pass them along:
1) Check with the organizers or host of the event to make sure kids are ok. I spoke with my coworker before committing our time to make sure my daughter would be welcome and included.
2) Think about your child’s interests and abilities. I know my daughter likes to spend time with adults and is old enough to walk through a neighborhood for an hour or two. She enjoys my coworkers, so that was a draw for her. I also checked in with her and got her buy-in before signing us up for the event.
3) Be realistic about the time frame. You want this to be a positive experience for your child so it is better to volunteer for a shorter period of time. Think about your child’s attention span and energy levels, and the time of day.
4) Make it fun! We brought along some special snacks for the event and had a play date lined up for later in the day. So when my daughter started to get tired I could offer refreshments along the way and remind her of the fun things to come. By adding things I knew she would enjoy to the event and the day it helped to connect the fun to the volunteering in her mind, even if some of it was ‘hard work.’
Eowyn Orleck is the LaneKids Coordinator and mother of one, which, she says “keeps her plenty busy!” She loves being surrounded by all the great information and activities for families she gets to hear about through her work and is excited to share this with other Lane County parents on the LaneKIds website.