Christmas Charity

Hi, everyone.

We have been so busy. Homeschooling is on a hiatus for the month of December which is why I haven't posted much. I always plan to do school through the month, but we get so incredibly busy. However, we have done a few charitable things that I think are far more educational this time of year than the typical school work.

We did our Angel Tree child at the beginning of the month. We had a little girl who is 7, and the kids and I had a fun time shopping for her favorite items. (Barbie and Jonas Brothers) I have done Angel Tree since my son was 2 to teach them that there are kids and families who need a little help sometimes. So this was our seventh year doing the tree.

A couple new things Avlyn and I did was singing Christmas carols at a local nursing home and ringing the bell for the Salvation Army. The nursing home was okay. I think it's a little scary for small children to be surrounded by older people in wheel chairs who either want to touch them or want the kids to go away so they can go back to sleep.

She had a blast ringing the bell at the red bucket for the Salvation Army. A friend of mine does it every year and invited some of us to join her. Although I talked with Avlyn about where the money goes and what it's used for, I'm not sure she understands completely. But it's a start in the right direction. My 9 year old was a little disappointed he couldn't go with us to ring the bell. I think teaching kids to be charitable is a wonderful thing. While it would be nice if it happened all year long, we tend to foucs our charitable works during the holidays.

We're doing something for March of Dimes in February, but after that we'll probably be done until next Christmas. My greatest hope is that my children will want to continue to do things for other people even when they're older and on their own.