Share, share, share, is all we preached to our kids as they were growing up. Oh how we all disliked sharing when we were kids. I think my kids started to dislike that word too. Why do we have to share, it’s ours after all?

That’s a tough question to answer. Why indeed should we share? Because it makes the other person feel good? Seriously? As if a child cares at that young an age. Some qualities don’t always come naturally and have to be taught, sharing is one of those characteristics.

Share, share and share again

We would teach Sri, our eldest daughter to share, share and share again as she was an only child for many years. We were constantly asking her to share something or another. I even bought books on sharing so that the message came across in a fun way.  Winnie the Pooh’s “Oh Bother Someone Won’t Share” was read to Sri so many times that the pages started fraying 😃.

An only child taught to share

Hitesh was an only child for many years too until Amar his younger brother was born. He told me stories about his Mom and how she would insist on Hitesh giving her a small piece of his chocolate even though she didn’t like chocolate at all, just to teach him the lesson of sharing.

Sharing is their life with twins

But with my twins, sharing is their life. They hated it. They felt jipped. We already share everything they feel; your attention, our toys, our friends, we even share birthdays. And on top of that we receive joint birthday presents that we have to share. They didn’t like that word share at all. And I understood. I stopped telling them to share things that were rightfully their own. It is nice to have some things that we can claim as our own and only ours. But they still had to occasionally share a toy or two, or a favorite book or that favorite dessert.

Grown up version of sharing

As we grow older sharing becomes less of sharing things and more about sharing of one self. It’s about sharing of our affection, our joys, our sorrows, our thoughts, our knowledge, our culture, our foods, and most of all sharing of our precious time.

My dear friend Stella left a comment on one of my posts that speaks volumes to how important time is to all of us, “Dear Kalpana, the word LOVE is spelled with another four letter word TIME.”

Thank you to my readers for sharing of your time

On this Thanksgiving celebration I would like to thank YOU – all my readers for sharing of your time. Thank you for taking the time to read my recipes, stories, travel journals, and gardening tips, and for all your generous comments and your likes. Most of all thank you for giving me the opportunity to share a part of my life with you. I am truly fortunate to be surrounded by a loving and caring family, amazing kind-hearted friends, and a wonderful group of readers like you.  For this I am so grateful and humbled.  THANK YOU!

Sharing is as infectious as a smile or a laugh, and it’s good for the soul 😀.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your families!
May your day be filled with love, joy, laughter, and many sharing moments. 

“The miracle is this: The more we share the more we have.” — Leonard Nimoy.