Cranes for Japan

I, like most everyone else, was horrified to hear about the earthquake, tsunami and subsequent nuclear crises that took place in Japan last month.  We spoke very candidly with the children about the disaster and also discussed ways in which we, as a family, could help.  One of the organizations that I discovered was Students Rebuild who has partnered with Do Something.org.  They organized a drive for people around the world to make paper cranes for Japan.  Once 10,000 cranes are received a $200,000 donation from the Bezos Family Foundation will be made for reconstruction efforts in Japan. Also, Students Rebuild will take all of the cranes sent in and make a art sculpture out of them.

We made paper cranes for Japan and in order to help the children understand the significance of the paper cranes in Japan we read the book Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr.  This is the true story of a young girl who became sick from radiation following the drop of the atom bomb in Hiroshima.  The book is a beautiful retelling of her story and while I would normally not have read this story quite yet to Harris, I felt like it was appropriate in the context of our discussion.  It deals with some heavy topics, including death, but in a straight forward way.  The children actually handled the book very well- it was myself who cried the last third of the book!  In our reading of the story the focus was on Sadako and her efforts to make 1,000 cranes.  However, it's a story that I would hope my children will read again because as they get older they will take more away from the story in a larger context as to the long term affects of war.

As a Mom, I often find it difficult to find the balance of giving my children too much information about scary current events or not enough information.  We've always erred on the little information side of things, but as they get older we are trying to have more conversations with them about our world and what is going on.  How do you find that balance?

P.S.  We followed the instructions in the back of the book to make our paper cranes.  It turned out to be a great family activity and the children (especially Harris!) loved doing it.

A Project

I have a confession to make.  I have found the 52 week project to be harder than I expected.  It's a disappointment to me because I don't believe that finding time in a week to do something nice for others should be difficult, but somehow I've already missed two weeks! I'm trying to not let that derail me though from the rest of the year.

Several weeks ago we had the privilege to work with several of our friends to make over a room at a homeless shelter for families.  It was a wonderful project because the children (between us there were 11) were able to help in most aspects of the project from start to finish.  The project took a full day to complete but the difference it made was huge!  It was also a very forceful reminder of just how blessed we truly are.

The children made art to go on the walls.

We cleaned, spackled, sanded, painted and decorated.

These guys worked incredibly hard all day long.

The finished room.

Thanks to Cathy and Tucker for organizing and letting us be a part of such a wonderful day.

Volunteering

Volunteering has really been on my mind lately.  As we continue on with our 52 weeks of giving I want to put more effort into our volunteering for both the community and the world in which we live.  I've always found volunteering with the children a bit difficult- many places won't allow children to participate nor have I known where to begin!  I found this list a while ago (I can't remember which magazine) and I thought I would share it.  The organizations that are listed are family oriented and you don't necessarily have to take your children to a facility to do the volunteering.  If you know of a good organization that we should add to the list please share!

Carrie shared with me her amazing 52 week list and she had two great resources for giving to our soldiers.  They are: operationgratitude.com and operationshoebox.com.  Thanks Carrie!

52 Weeks of Giving

{Our family this morning, we made sandwiches for a Salvation Army event}

Over the holidays our family used the Giving Jar as a way to do good for others.  When we pulled out a slip of paper and performed the "act of kindness" written there, it was truly a wonderful feeling and something that we all enjoyed.  Unfortunately, we didn't pull as many as I would have liked.  There are a million excuses (the holidays are crazy for most of us) but the more I thought about it the more I realized that I don't want this to be a once-a-year type of activity.  Thus, I've decided that we are going to perform at least one act of giving a week for the next year.  My hope is that the children (all of us really) can begin to understand that giving to others can be a regular part of life - a habit if you will.

I've made a list of activities that span the year and will act as our "guide" but with the understanding that many opportunities might present themselves throughout the year and occur naturally.  I don't want to be tied to a list that I feel we can't stray from.  That said, many activities will have to be planned and prepared for ahead of time.

It's also important to me that our acts require us to give of ourselves - talents, time and thought - not just our money.  I don't believe that all acts need to be grand gestures and in fact I believe that it is often the little things that make a difference in someones' life.

Is anyone up for doing 52 weeks of giving with us?  I think it would be amazing to do it together.  Katherine Marie is continuing on her random acts of kindness for the next 52 weeks and her list is incredible.  

I haven't included my list but if you are interested in seeing it please let me know and I'll be happy to share.

Giving Jar

In an effort to help our children understand the concept of giving to others, we have started a giving jar. We decided as a family which organization to donate to. We asked the children what they would like to do to help others. Harris wanted to give people food and Grace wanted to help people who didn't have much money. Our local food kitchen fits that bill perfectly. I think that this will be a good fit for us because the children can understand giving food to others and it will help other people who live in our community.

I know that it will take a long time to fill the jar but hopefully the children will enjoy the anticipation of it getting fuller and fuller. I thought we would just use spare change but Grace got some of her dollars from her piggy bank and put them in. That's the spirit!