Last Friday the children both came out of school with big smiles on their faces, feeling really excited because they had something special for me in their bags.
The parents association had organised a really lovely event for Mother’s day. The children went in to school with a few pounds and were then able to go to the hall and choose a special present for us mums from a huge range of options.
They were given help to pick something out and then the gifts were beautifully wrapped up ready for them to give to us on Mother’s day.
What was so wonderful is how excited the children all were about it. Rhys and Nerys were amazing though, and didn’t give me any hints at all as to what they had chosen for me. They were just desperate for Mother’s day to come around so that they could see me open their presents.
I just thought it was so lovely that the act of giving seemed to make them so happy, and what’s really interesting is that there really does seem to be an innate part of us that takes real joy in giving to other people.
Studies have actually been carried out on children that have found that even at a young age we gain joy and satisfaction from giving and helping others.
One particular study carried out by Aknin et al. (2012) involved asking toddlers to share treats with a puppet and found that they showed more happiness giving the treats to the puppets than they did when they received the treats themselves.
The researchers came to the conclusion that the children were too young to have been particularly influenced by social expectations and so they believe that we have evolved to be naturally inclined to find happiness in giving to others.
This feel-good factor does seem to stay with us as we get older too.
A study by Dunn et al. found that people were happier when they spent around $5 a day on someone else, than if they spent that same amount of money on themselves. I think we’ve all had experiences where we’ve felt that little happy glow after paying for a friend’s coffee, with no expectation of the gesture being returned. Or felt so happy and excited when out shopping for presents for our loved ones.
It does spread further than that though.
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Some people feel so passionately about giving back to others that they build their whole business model around it.
There are some amazing businesses here in Swansea that have done just this, and who go to show the not for profit idea can work for all sorts of industries. Square Peg is a lovely coffee shop in Sketty (they also now have Peg 2 in Mumbles), with a warm and welcoming atmosphere, great food and especially great coffee. They also give their profits away to good causes and offer training and apprenticeships in their coffee shops to help people get valuable work experience.
Over in Clydach there’s Dynamic Rock which I really have to pay a visit to at some point. They’re a not for profit climbing centre who offer sessions for everyone from children and complete beginners to experienced climbers and businesses looking for a unique teambuilding activity.
All their profits go back into the business, so they can really serve the local climbing community as well as making climbing a more accessible activity for everyone.
I think Rhys would absolutely love to give indoor climbing a try, and I love the passion that everyone at Dynamic Rock seems to have for it.
Whether it’s just something small like buying a small present for someone, or even just paying them a compliment, or something huge like building a whole business around giving back, there’s a lot to be said for being generous and giving. It’s a real win-win situation where everyone involved benefits and feels good.
And that seems to be mainly just down to basic human nature which is really quite nice to know if you ask me!
Oh, and in case you were wondering, I was given a lovely tealight lantern to hang in the garden and a very sparkly hair-slide for Mother’s day!