One day a father scolded his three-year-old daughter when she took some pretty gift wrapping paper. He told her she shouldn’t waste these things when they were battling for money and so poor.
The next day, the little girl, despite all the scolding, gave her father a gift wrapped in the pretty gift wrap. Her father felt sad that he’d shouted her when she wanted to do something to show her love to him. When he opened the box, he saw it was empty and he lost his temper, shouting at her that she was wasting money on useless things. A gift, he told her, should be something, even if small.
The little girl started crying and said that she’d blown her kisses into the box and she had given them as a present to her father. Remorseful, the father hugged her tight. He kept the gift for the rest of his life. Whenever he felt depressed or sad, he’d take the box, take out a kiss and his problems seemed to diminish.
Every child is a gift, full of love and kisses. They need to be cherished and loved. The love they will give in return will certainly be a soothing balm for their parents.
Never berate a child for something without thinking for they might have done it purely out of love. By scolding them at that point you might put them off doing good for life.
The Gift: Story
