Not In The News Friday (NITNF) Christmas Edition #1



NITNF will usually be a bit of trivia that I found interesting and thought you would like. It may be IR-related and it might not -- but should always be fun...or at leastIt took m fascinating.

Today's NITNF is definitely not in the news. It's about one of my sons and something he did today that was very much in the Spirit of Christmas. I got a call from my oldest son's school guidance counselor this morning, something that would usually be cause for concern...but this time it wasn't. She was calling to tell me that my son brought little toys from home to give as Christmas gifts to his fellow classmates (he's in 5th grade). She wanted to know if this was okay. She described what he brought and I told her, "Well, they're his toys. If he wants to give them away to others, then he can do that." She also told me he hand-made individual Christmas cards for each of his 18 classmates, with personalized messages for the children. It really was very sweet of him to do, with no prompting from anyone.

The counselor was very touched by his behavior but not surprised. My son is just like that; he's very loving and very giving. I'm proud of him, too, and I wasn't surprised, either -- but it was very heartening to hear, first thing of the morning.

So much of Christmas is about giving, and giving because you want to, not because it's expected. This morning, I realized that my son has already learned an incredible Life Lesson: the happiness you see in others when you give to them without expecting anything in return is its own reward. It's amazing to me that he's learned that when he's only 11 years old. In my opinion, it's something the whole world could benefit from learning.

Best Wishes,
Allen