single dad laughing

What a powerful post.

"Be bold about your weaknesses and you will change people's lives. Be honest about who you actually are, and others will begin to be their actual selves around you."

baby leg warmers

These are genius and I want so many! I was considering seeing if I could make some with socks - I could just hem them at the end. But in the meantime these are ADORABLE:



This image is from Baby Legs, but I've also seen them at Huggalugs.

The best part is that they fit kids from 0-6 years old. I've got to get myself one and see if it'll work to make others from socks - I could go broke buying all the different colors & patterns!

get junk food out of schools

Another fund-raiser - write a letter (the kid writes it, if they wish) stating why it would be important to switch to healthier vending machines at school. Ask for money to support this - how much will it cost to buy one of these? See if the school will match any of it, and send the letter to every parent in the school. Maybe it'll work!

http://www.shapingyouth.org/blog/?p=877

connecting kids to charitable giving

I love having this blog - and the computer from work that makes me able to add something here almost whenever I want to. This might end up being the website that I've wanted for so long. A place to post resources, websites, all the things that I don't want to forget. It's fabulous!

But onto the subject title: I just read something in Domino magazine that gave me an idea. They suggested having your kid save up to donate money to a wildlife organization. The kid sends $25 to a wildlife foundation for Africa and receives a "plush toy" in return.

A way to make this better: bring your kid to the zoo - possibly do your own research into your local zoo. The one in Seattle does a decent job at educating their visitors with signs that include many details on the animals, their domain, and usually reasons as to why they are in danger. So your kid connects to a particular animal, decides he/she wants to help feed or house (or pay for good staff that will take care of the animal), donates x amount of dollars, and gets the satisfaction of sharing some of her/his good fortune to help others. This can be done with any type of organization, really - not just for wildlife. In fact - how about they designate $25 every year to go toward an organization of their choice? And the kid can write a letter about what the money is for, why it was raised, etc.

The hope is that from a very young age your children have a connection and compassion for all living things, and also the idea that we're all part of the earth cycle - we all depend on each other for something, whether it be clean air, subsistence, or a little extra cash.