I grew up in a house where you were dragged along to volunteer. You really didn't have a choice. I remember organizing donated items for March of Dimes probably at 7 or 8. I probably complained about it, but my mom did an amazing job of instilling that passion to help others in my heart. So now that Ruth is 3 and getting a little more "eduacated" on the whole Santa thing, I feel pressure to keep her in the true meaning of Christmas. We have started doing a Advent countdown. We do this every year along with a Jesse tree (post on that later), but this year I mixed in some RACKs (Random Acts of Christmas Kindness). I am not sure she gets it really this year, but hopefully it will be a great tradition to continue on.
Here are some awesome sites with more information on this idea. It was not something I came up with for sure.
RACK Advent Calendar Some of her ideas are things like
- purchase toys for kids in need
- donate blood (parents of course)
- take goodies to the firefighters working on Christmas day (I hope to do this one this year)
- buy hot cocoa for the person ringing the Salvation Army bell.... we bought them a coke because we are in Texas and it was like 77 degrees that day.
Some of her ideas ...
- leave a gift for the mailman
- make treats for the dogs
- find the home with the best lights and write them a thank you card (want to do this one too)
Anyways, we have had lots of fun so far. I told Ruth we were going to buy a toy for a little boy. Of course she asked why and what is his name, and what is his mommy's name. After a discussion on giving to those in need, and pretending that I knew the name of this kid, I picked a boy so she could pick something she might not want herself. So she then told me he might have a baby sister too who also needs a toy. So we picked out something for the baby sister too.
