1. Donate to your local food pantry (we are donating to the cereal drive at the Newburyport Food Pantry).
2. Donate gifts to a local shelter (We are going to contribute to a drive that Zoe's school is doing).
3. Sponsor/Adopt a family this holiday! There are plenty of places to find families to sponsor and provide a Christmas too, your local church, grocery store, calling a local shelter or even some schools can have access to a family that needs a little magic.
4. Bake or purchase cookies for your neighbors. We are doing this, this week!
5. Deliver treats to your local post office!
6. Deliver treats to the emergency departments in your town/neighborhood. We are going to make cookies and bring hot chocolate to our Fire/Police Department, the girls are SO excited for this, mainly truck obsessed Ami.
7. Make cards for different people you see every day, garbage truck driver, postman, a bus driver or even your local grocery department cashier. Watch their eyes light up.
8. Collect gently used coats for a shelter. Group text a bunch of folks and offer to be a point person to collect gently used coats or money to purchase gloves and hats ( I love the Dollar Tree or Walmart or Marshalls for this, get more bang for my buck and keep some folks warm!)
9. Choose a super cold day to leave out a big thermos of coffee and hot chocolate + disposable cups for delivery people.
10. Let someone move ahead of you in line.
11. Shovel someones driveway before they wake up.
12. Pay for someone behind you in the drive thru. (we love doing this one all year).
13. Make holiday cards for a nursing home in your town.
14. Volunteer to read stories at a library or neighborhood or your kids classroom!
15. Donate gently used or new (or both!) toys to a local shelter.
16. Compliment 5 strangers while you are out Christmas shopping.
17. Pick up hand warmers and a $5 gift card for a homeless person or two that you see on your commute.
18. Smile at everyone you see for an entire day. I do this one when I am having a rough day and it changes it around.
19. Coordinate with your local Children's Hospital to see if you can send cards to kids in the hospital during the holidays.
20. Send that small gift/card or even email to someone that you want to cheer up. That person that you are always thinking you should send flowers or a card to, just do it.
21. Donate your time. My mom may not have had the extra money to donate but she always gave her time and it really instilled GIVING in us.
22. Coffee and treats to the teachers and administrators at your kids school.
23. Send letters to soldiers.
24. Feed someones meter.
25. Give away books you've outgrown to a free library or specific family ( I bet your local library can help figure out one that would LOVE it).
That's it, simple little and big things that you can do to spread kindness and show your kids by DOING. I swear that it does as much for you as it does for others.
I truly hope this inspires you to do one or two of these things this month and if it does, please let me know!
xoxo
Natalie
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