Challenge #1

First Challenge: I have a young child who is very excited to attend a classmate’s birthday party but I didn’t have any money to buy a gift. What do I do?

This is a really hard one as this is where poverty affects a young child’s social world.  I felt this could be the hardest challenge for a parent.  I asked my husband and teens and we all had ideas.  My first one would be to see if I had anything around the house that could possibly be a gift; my hubby suggested an experience gift but we thought, in reality, what would that look like? We wouldn’t have the money for a movie, or a special outing,  we might not even have enough food to share a meal or make cookies or a home made gift.  My daughter suggested I call the parent and explain but I thought…. could I do that, I would feel so badly for my child and embarrassed as a parent. I ended up thinking like a lot of parents would, your child just doesn’t go.