Well we did a repeat in our quest to do a good deed every day….it was bound to happen but this has been one of my favorite things we have done so when my daughter, Eden, suggested it again we were all on board.  She wanted to draw more pictures and bring them to the nursing home.  My children LOVE to draw and color and craft and they love to share the fancy artwork.  Every day they want to put something in the mail and send it to their Aunt Sas or Nonie and Papa or even sweet Grammy in heaven.

This is such an amazing project because it costs nothing, nothing at all.  We brought 25 pictures and passed them out during a Bingo break.  I wrote words of encouragement (Smile, Have a wonderful day, You are loved….) and my kids colored designs and hearts and people and robots, all things they thought would make the residents happy.

I am blown away by how much this little act of kindness meant to these people.  We have done it twice and it has brought tears to my eyes both times.  They were thrilled to get the picture and their smiles were contagious.  We got invited back tomorrow by one sweet little lady.  We promised her we would be back.

I was especially proud of my daughter who was just so excited to do this.  My daughter has a sweet soul and has been kind since she was a baby.  It is just instinct for her and I adore this quality about her.  She made sure everyone had a picture and even passed out hugs along with telling people to “have a good day”.  She did all of this with a smile as big as theirs.

I am so proud of my pals for doing this project with me.  We are making a difference….a tiny bit at a time.

Until tomorrow…..

Well, if you live anywhere near Chicago or the Midwest in general, you know how cold it is here.  Brutally cold. So ridiculous…..as they say, colder than a witches tit, which apparently is VERY cold.  I mean, realistically it is too cold to send my pals out to play.  Too cold to make a snowman, too cold to go sledding but we’ll get there.  Spring is coming…..I am convinced.  I may need some real proof it is coming but I have to believe for my own sanity.

So we decided today to help those out in need dealing with this cold weather.  We gathered tons of scarves and hats and gloves and even a couple coats and blankets and put them in a big box.  My youngest son, Abbott, and I took the box with a nice sign taped to it, to a local train station where homeless gather.  The least we can do is give a scarf, a hat or a pair of gloves to make someone’s life just a bit easier.

Life can be tough enough….At the very least, let’s be as warm as we can be.  We were so happy to share our items along with some donated by friends and some purchased to help those in need.  Bless them all…..every single one.

It is the least we can do….everyone deserves to feel human enough to be kept warm and know they are loved.

God bless…….until tomorrow.

Well, today I was without my pals as they were lucky enough to go to Nana’s house for the weekend.  So I was on my own for the good deed.  I actually had some time to breathe since I was not yelling, changing shitty diapers or cleaning up spills of any kids.  I wasn’t playing referee to my pals fights…..which tonight involved a heated convo if I (me, their MOTHER) was a boy or a girl.  Really?  Really?  They were fighting upstairs and I kind of tuned it out until Eden came down in tears….”What is wrong sweetie?”  “L.A. says your a boy Mommy but I told him you are a girl.”  I told her to march right back up there and tell L.A. that I do not have a weiner and could the please just go to bed.

So back to the deed….I decided to make my neighbors favorite appetizer.  Asparagus rolled with phyllo, proscuitto and cheese…..then roasted and dumped down your hatch because they are so good.  Really, they are amazing but time consuming.  I knew I had time so I made her a batch with a hand written note.  We need to bring these back too.  We spend too much time on email as it has become the norm but nothing beats a real letter that just says truthful nice things.  Sometimes it is the little things in life – your favorite treat along with a nice note.  My neighbors are fabulous so I thought she needed a little surprise.

It feels great to make someone happy….and to surprise them is even better.  Happy Lent.

Until tomorrow.

Well today we had a great idea.  We decided that it was payback day!

Payback for a great team of people who deserves a “thank you”…..our local FIREFIGHTERS!

We went and got cookies for the store and taped a note that said, “Thanks for making me safe!”  We also had rehearsed them saying it in unisons but it didn’t go as planned.  Miss Eden decided to knock over (and crush) the giant cardboard box collection phones and sunglasses.  she knocked it down and phones and glasses were flying everywhere.  It was quite a scene……but, as some random guy up there who was laughing so hard he could barely breathe, she never dropped the cookies she was holding for the fireman.  She fell over knocked a hug display down but she made damn sure those cookies were safe.

After we explained what we were doing for our Lenten gig, the amazing fire chief took us on a tour of the station, gave them trinkets and let them hop around the firetruck for about an hour.

It was an amazing experience and my pals really learned something.  We were not expecting to get such grand treatment.  We really just wanted to drop the cookies off and say (in unison) – “Thanks for keeping us safe.”  My pals learned that when you do nice things for people you can get a great payback.  We all loved every second and they invited us back…so we will be there!

Today was one that really hit home with me as Autism strikes in our family and I have many friends who deal with the constant struggle which becomes their “new normal.”

A dear friend from college told us about a local Kansas City boy who was beaten by his classmates for simply being different.  That’s it.  He was beaten so badly he was hospitalized.  Heart-breaking.  Infuriating thoughts consumed my mind.  But what could we do?

We could send him a note with a hand written letter and my pals can draw some pictures for them.  We also picked out some special stickers and some fruit snacks to send along.

The lesson my kids got today was just this:  just because someone is different, the deserve the same love and respect that you give your mom and dad.  We talked about how sometimes different is better.  But the bottom line is treat everyone the same – with love and respect.  If they give you a reason not to, then come to me (mom) and we will figure out how to handle the situation.  Handling bullies can be hard enough so sometimes you need an adult to step in.

We didn’t know the poor boy, Blake, who got beaten but we thought he deserved a note from someone he had never met so he knew people from all over the country are thinking about him.

Eden thought he needed Prince Charming and L.A. thought it was Darth Vader for sure.  We wrote the letter together.  My kids learned another lesson in kindness and I got to be proud.  Nothing better than your insides smiling because you are on your way to making someone’s day. But watching your kids enjoy do something for someone else and expecting nothing in return really is priceless.

Well today was our 7th day in our 40 days of random acts of kindness…..way better than just giving something up like cheese or wine (shudder).  Let’s do something more.  Let’s just do it.

Today I had the morning off and my twin pals were at school so it was just Abbott and I.  We decided to hit the Taj Mahal of shopping venues to spread some joy.  No, not Barney’s, not Target, not even Wal-mart.  Dollar Tree.  Oh yeah, Dollar Tree.

I love dollar tree, who doesn’t?  EVERYTHING in the store is a dollar.  I give my kids 2 bucks each and tell them they can pick out 2 of anything in the ENTIRE store.  The love it.  “You mean I can get this?”  Yes.  “But there is NO way I could get this?”  Yes. Yes.  You can get anything in this store…..it is all a dollar.  Hard for a 4 year old brain to comprehend much less a 40 year old one.

So every time that we go to the Dollar Tree, we see kids inevitably whining in the “toy” aisle for a toy exactly like my pals do when we go.  But how could a parent say “no” if there was a dollar bill taped to the toy their child wanted.  How could you say no?  You can’t.  Here is where we came in.

My giant baby and I taped five one dollar bills to some toys so we hope 5 sweet kids got the little toy they wanted today.

My assistant Abbott was really not having it but I was trying to be all sly about and it and he just keeps ripping the money off and giving it back to me.  Worst assistant ever but he is so cute so I kept him on board.

Today we hope 5 little kids got a little special treat they wanted and their parents were happy as well….they didn’t have to pay for it and their child was happy.  Plus they get to talk about the mystery of how that would ever happen.  I mean, who would ever go and just tape $1 bills to a toy with no note and walk away.  Free toys.  Cool.

Ohhhh, we love a little mystery and anything free.

Until tomorrow….

So, we are doing one good deed every day in Lent.  That means 40 good deeds, one done every day to a complete stranger that will change their day, even if in the slightest little way.  It does not have to cost money, that is the most important thing to remember.  My pals and I doing this and LOVING it.  They are learning so much about kindness and strangers and compassion and really, overall – love.  That is what doing all of this boils down to, simple love from your heart to someone you never laid eyes on and probably never will again.

Today we went for a standard “pay for the person behind you in the drive-thru line.”  My pals were so excited about this one at McDonald’s.  As soon as someone pulled up to us they were turning around giggling and just waving like crazy.  It was a mini-van filled with teenage boys.  My first thought was, “ouch….this is not going to be cheap” but we made the deal and if it was 50 dollars worth of Big Macs, really even better, a better story for them to tell.  See, we want people to share the stories and get inspired to do something along the same lines.

Once a year we get a shamrock shake and today was it.  I ordered my pals 3 shamrock shakes and pulled up to the window.  I said to the nice cashier that I would like to pay for my shakes as well as the people who were behind us.  Whatever their order was, we got the whole kit and caboodle.  She looked at me like I had 3 eyeballs.  I then explained to her that my pals and I were trying to bring back some “pay it forward goodness” for Lent and get people thinking about how good they feel when someone does something so simple for them, maybe then they will pass it along.  The cashier got a huge grin on her face and said “This is so cool.  I have never seen anyone do this.”  I also asked her to please give them this note.

She was just as excited as we were.  We pulled up to the next window and saw her hand them the note and they were just going crazy – waving their hands, I am fairly certain I saw a high 5!  It was adorable.  My kids were waving back at them, they were waving like crazy, I was smiling with tears.  It was awesome….all around.

And that was it, we drove away excited to make someone’s day.

And then this happened…..

Which did not make my day.  I had to scrub that down in 12 degree weather but STILL totally worth it.

Game over.

Oh wait, I know you want to know how much the min-van of teenage boys cost me.  It was $6.18.  I said to the cashier, “they are going to wish they all went for that Big Mac when you give them this note.”   We were prepared to pay for whatever they ordered, that was the deal my pals and I made going in to this one but it wasn’t like I could run back and tell them to order more.  It would have ruined the fun surprise.  Hopefully they all shared.

We’ll do this on again at a different spot because it is fun to see the excitement and then peel right out like some Super hero you will never see again…a Super Hero who got you some fries and a story you won’t soon forget. Hell, your poor friend who decided to save his money and not order may even remember it a little longer.

Until tomorrow….

We are doing this whole “one good deed a day” for every day this Lent and todays may be hard to top.  I am going to have to come up with some great ideas for the next coming weeks because todays deed really touched me and made me think long and hard about a lot of things.  Today we went to the local retirement home to visit and leave them with some masterpieces by my tiny artists.

My pals spent a few hours drawing pictures on colored construction paper.  Their favorite thing to do was 2 people holding hands with hearts all around and then Mom (aka boss aka me) wrote simple quotes above the drawings that said: You are loved, Have a happy day, Smile, You are super!

We divided our pictures up so each pal had 11 to hand out. (The giant baby was not having it).   He was just there to get right down to business also known as causing trouble in his Packers hat complete with horns and his blaze orange jacket.  With this get up, he is guaranteed not to get lost.  Well. almost guaranteed

(His standard causing trouble outfit)

The kids started out very sheepishly but warmed up once we met a sweet woman with the biggest smile ever. She asked Eden what her name was and after Eden told her, she very cheerily said, “I am Gwendolyn and this sign you gave me says ‘Have a Happy Day’ so that is just what I am going to do.  I love it.”

We went around the room until each person had one, passed out a few little hugs and some big smiles.  We had 4 leftover that we gave to a nurse to bring to some residents who were not able to come out for snack time.  I admit the kids were taken a back at first as it was a new environment.  It was very sterile so it felt more like an institution or hospital versus just a home where old people hang out together as I had played it up in their mind.  This was a state run center so the frills were lacking. It was very different than the lovely center where my sweet Grammy spent some time.  Although they did have a birdcage that the kids loved and one lady in particular had a very large futuristic looking wheelchair that L.A. made sure and told her was “so cool.”

As the kids comfort level grew, the residents smiles grew even more. Even as we walked into the room, without saying a word the entire room just lit up with smiles and you could see it in their eyes, you really could. They loved have the young blood in there, loved the energy and loved even more the hand drawn picture they were left with.  It also didn’t hurt that my giant baby was just running around like Dennis the Menace grinning from ear to ear.  He had few stare downs with some residents.  Overall, EVERYONE got something out of this act of kindness – the residents, my kids, the staff and even me.  I was overwhelmed and so proud of my pals for just jumping right in and making sure everyone got a picture and a smile.

I wish I had taken some photos but it just didn’t seem right.  I didn’t want them to feel pressured or uncomfortable so we decided to take the mental memory this time and remember sweet Gwendolyn.  My pals already want to start working on another stack of pictures and we will do this once a week in lent.

It was amazing that something so easy, so affordable and not very time consuming could make such an amazing impact on these somewhat lonely seniors that need extra love.  After all, who doesn’t need extra love?

Until tomorrow.

So, traditionally Lent rolls around for 40 days and we decide to give up something like pizza, whining, wine, sweets or something we crave.  We have done that in the past but this year we are changing things up a bit.  Instead of giving something up, we are going to eat our pizza.  We are going to whine while drinking our boxed wine.  Instead of this approach, we decided (my amazing mother and I) that for 40 days in a row, we are going to do one random kind act for someone.  When you think about this, it makes so much more sense.  When you give up pizza, who is really benefitting?  Well, your waist line is but other than that me giving up pizza is not going to make anyones day.  Especially my husband who would have to listen to my whining.

So this year we explained to my pals what Lent was and talked about the standard traditions are for Lent and they were totally on board with switching things up.  Teaching kindness when kids are young is so important, especially in today’s world where this is too much sadness and way too many creepy people.  Technology is taking over and we are sitting behind our computers instead of sitting in front of a someone we love.  I have been guilty of this.  We all have.

Now we are not sharing this story to make anyone feel bad that they are giving up their coffee or chocolate.  We are just sharing our idea and our story in hopes to see if anyone wants to join us and help change the way someones day is going.  It takes something so little.  Think about the last time someone simply just smiled at you and you felt good.  What if you went to grab your coffee tomorrow morning and they guy in the drive thru said it was taken care of.  How amazing it this?  We can do so many little things that cost nearly nothing and make such a difference.

My pals and I do a lot of things-crafts and projects that I diary through on Facebook and my blog.   I have gotten a couple comments where I know my friends are joking but they tell me with a huge grin I make them feel like a crappy mom.  That is never my intention.  Ever.  Never Ever.  The bottom line is we are all crappy mom’s sometimes.  I like to do crafts.  I like to bake and cook.  I like to make finger puppets and paint and have pen pals.  I love pinterest and I am not ashamed.  My kids benefit, sure but so do I. I love every second of this nerdy craft stuff.  I also do NOT do a lot of things.  We rarely eat organic.  My kids wear the same socks 2 days in a row after I load them up with Febreeze.  We probably have a Happy Meal once a week for a treat.  I yell too much some days.  I have been know to give me pal an ipad while I read an article online or two or three.  And you know what?  It is ok.  All of it is ok.  As long as you love your kids with all your might, you are doing good.  I could not love my pals more if I tried.

I have never ever intended to do the “humble brag” that people do on Facebook or blogs but fear people may have gotten that impression at times.  I post pics of my kids putting googly eyes on everything but the kitchen sink but I certainly do not expect anyone else too.  You are probably making something with all organic food right now and that is cool.  I will never go for the “humble brag.” Because those are the posts we can all see right through.  EVERYONE.  You will never catch me posting a photo of may pals outside in the driveway where my Range Rover happens to be in the garage.  First of all, because I don’t have a Range Rover but I am here to inform you that everyone sees right through this stuff.  Everyone. You won’t see me post a pic of my kids carrying a giant Louis Vuitton purse around because it is “so cute” or a picture of them playing in my backyard but you can’t even see them because all you can see is my giant house.  I don’t have a giant house and that is ok.  Nobody likes your more because you drive a fancy car or make cookies with your kids.  If they do, ditch them.

I will post a picture of my kids making a finger puppet because I might just give you a fun idea or simply want you to see how my kids are growing.  My house is usually messy in the background and that is ok.  We are not perfect but we are kind and we are going to do our tiny part to make a difference.  Make sense?

SInce we have decided to do our Lenten gig, we have made soup for 2 sick neighbors, sent cards to people just to tell them we love them and sent our girl scout cookies to some troops in Afghanistan.  We surprised our neighbor with a little treat that we knew she wanted.  We will do one thing every day and I will let you know about it because I want to be accountable.  I am not perfect and I want to follow through.

Today we drew 22 pictures and we plan on dropping them off at a local nursing home tomorrow after school.  How easy is that and think of the impact it will make?!?!  Who is with us?  Let’s do this. (And if anyone wants to buy me a Range Rover or a new Louis Vuitton, I will post it on Facebook).

It is that time of the year.  The air is f’ing freezing.  I can see my breath.  The tree is up.  Thanksgiving is done. The leftovers are gone.  You know what this means…..Bribery is in full effect.

I do not feel bad about this but I have been using the whole “Santa” bribe since the end of October but now that the season is really here, holy balls is this amazing.  My kids are like angels.  They reprimand each other.

Mornings are usually like hell frozen over but not anymore.  My kids pop up, ready to put their wrinkly uniforms on, brush their teeth, do their hair and run down and see where the damn elf is.  Peanut.  I love Peanut.  His my main squeeze.

I gotta admit.  Peanut does not do much.  He does not make tiny pancakes or set up Lego forts but he does take a marshmallow bath and leave a scathing note about saying “please” and “thank you’s”.  I love the mom’s that go bonkers with them, I really do.  My goal in life is to be the best mom ever, and I do pretty good but I fail with Peanut.  I move him.  He gets into a tiny bit of trouble but the overall time exerted every evening is less than 2 minutes.  Today I hung him from a hole in my ceiling that I have been yelling at my husband for one year….yes, one year to cap off.  I guess good things come to those who wait.  A perfect place for Peanut to hang from an active electrical cord hanging from a ceiling…..wait, do you smell something burning?  Tiny elf hands perhaps?!?

The tree.  This year my pals went off the rails when we were decorating the tree.  It seriously brought me back to when I was a tot and digging through boxes and finding my favorite ornaments from prior years.  I really think watching Christmas through your kids eyes is better than experiencing it yourself.  It brings you back to amazing memories AND you get to see the people you love more than anything in this world just about as happy as they can be.  It is almost like you get to relive your childhood but it is way better because there is wine and no one tells you when you have to go to bed….but you do have to wipe your own butt.  That is really the only downer.

I love that it is only December 5th and we have 21 days of holiday crafts, xmas cartoons, zoo lights, neighborhood caroling (just you wait – I will get video), cookie decorating, gingerbread houses, snowmen to build and more than anything…..bribes to be made.  The other night I got a 4 handed tiny back scrath for about 13 minutes while Peanut was in sight.  “L.A. – keep scratching, Peanut can see you!  Don’t you want that Spiderman pet?”  (For the record, my pals call stuffed animals “pets”)  Weird.

Tis’ the season for bribes!  And wine.