May Day

Tweet May 1st is May Day. I remember when I was little, we used to make little baskets out of construction paper. We'd roll the paper up into a funnel shape and use tape or glue to hold it. Then we'd attach a handle made from the same construction paper.

Once we had the basket finished, we would go out side and pick flowers. The only flowers growing that early in Iowa were violets and dandelions, but they were perfect. We'd pick them and fill our baskets.

Then for the fun.

We would take them around the neighborhood and hang one on each neighbor's front doorknob. We would knock on the door and then run. The whole point was to give the gift anonymously.

It's funny...I don't know if anyone enjoyed getting those little May Day baskets or not, but we had a great time giving them. There was nothing special about their construction or the flowers in them, but each one was special to us. They made us happy and we always hoped we had made a few other people happy, too. The power of giving a gift almost always has a two-way benefit. How wonderful it would be if all children learned the joy of giving, not just receiving.