The saying, "It is better to give than to receive" has evolved into conventional wisdom recanted most often during this time of year.

Why is it better to give? Why do parents seek to instill a spirit of giving in their children?

Is it a sense of obligation carried from our own childhoods? Some parents may feel that it will help their children appreciate what they have and they will be happier with their lives.

While these are valid reasons, there may be a reason even more compelling behind the impulse to encourage the spirit of giving in children.

To give, with a grateful and willing heart, is empowering.

When you are in a position to bestow something to another person with the sincere desire to benefit another, you are causing something to happen. The recipient of your gift is touched or transformed by your act. For children, the discovery of this power - the ability to give and know that someone is receiving what you have offered and feeling a benefit, relief, delight and/or gratitude can be very uplifting and help the child to feel important and significant.

During the holidays, there are a plethora of options (many accessible through churches and schools) to give your child the opportunity to experience giving to people and causes. In this way, your children may experience the joy and elation of causing good feelings to happen in your home, neighborhood, community and the world.

The most common first giving experiences are at home and with family. During the holidays, many families have gift exchange traditions.

Cindy Thomas has an extended family (including Goldsmiths) of more than 48 people. They pick names to assign each other one person to purchase a gift.

"It's so cool to see the excitement in everyone's faces as they watch the receiving person open the gift that they thoughtfully chose, purchased and wrapped," says Thomas.

Some family holiday traditions involve giving in response to a tragic event in their lives.

Every year, Angela and Fred Biletnikoff take their daughter, Dacia, to Tracey's Place of Hope, a residential program for teen girls suffering from drug, alcohol and domestic violence. Tracey's Place of Hope is proudly named after Dacia's sister who was brutally murdered by someone she knew. They bring gifts for Christmas to all the girls.

"It is our hope that by giving to them they will in return give back when they are well, just like Tracey did herself," says Angela.

Other family giving traditions involve benefits for those in need.

Each year, Halee Daily, mother of two boys - Jay, 5, and Brock, 2 - adopts a child from a giving tree at her health club.

Last year, Jay wanted to know why Santa wouldn't take care of it. After explaining that this boy she adopted needed extra presents and attention because he had so little (no aunties, no big family to give him what he needed), she convinced her son to participate.

"I wanted Jay to hold the hope that we could brighten the child's Christmas because he would have extra presents to open," says Daily. "We made wishes for each of the gifts for the little boy. Jay's wishes were things like, 'I wish for this gift to make the little boy always have food to eat' and 'I wish that the little boy will be warm at night when he sleeps' and 'I wish for him to have hugs and kisses.'"

This year Daily and her son have adopted a 3-year-old girl named Angelina from the Homes With Heart Foster Family Agency.

The local programs give youth an opportunity to connect with those in need.

Dan Akre encourages his sons, Erik, 16, and Austin, 14, to participate in giving programs through Bayside Church to foster compassion, understanding and giving.

Joanne Jackson has involved her girls - Jamie, 19, and Chelsea, 16 - in giving programs similar to Homes With a Heart Foster Family Agency, usually through their school.

"I encourage them to give so they may experience first hand helping people who are not as fortunate as them," says Jackson. "And it makes them feel good after helping someone else."

In many ways, the act of giving is a reciprocal event in that the giver benefits as much if not more than the receiver. For children, the capacity to give can be a source of life long happiness and fulfillment.