RACK part 3 Good news and Happy meals

Christmas eve, eve. Only one more day of advent count down. Yay! Little bit relieved. It has been good, but it hasn't exactly gone to plan... I ended up with a bit of a 'back log' of acts of kindness that didn't get done. We had a little pile of undone goodness to attend to yesterday. Things got a little bit busy, part of the problem with planning activities for the whole month, is you dont really know what is going to be happening on any given day and sometimes we just didn't get to it. The kids didn't seem fussed, (particularly the one about going up to people and singing carols at the shops... WHAT was I thinking with that one??! Esther wouldn't have a bar of it, and I wasn't keen either.) However I did feel it was important to try and do most of things that had come up in the previous days. So I rallied Shane on Saturday, and we all six of us, headed out into the drizzly afternoon. We deposited the 'good news of Christmas' (http://enochwalkedwithgod.wordpress.com/ to read the Christmas message tract I penned) into letter boxes in our neighborhood. We barely got 50m from home when Charlotte decided her shoes were unwearable and we had to have a little battle over wearing them or heading home for new ones, of which neither option seemed acceptable to her. Shane ended up dashing back and returning with some. We had kept going but then turned around when I realised we were missing the 'rack' cards we needed, Zipporah was whining, it was a little rainy, I was getting flustered and not a little affected by the multiple nights with multiple wake ups and not-nearly-enough sleep... But it seemed to obvious an attempt to deter us and try to get us into grumps. So after dashing home on my own to get them, we were on our mission again. We went to the closest bus stop and stuck on to it a 'rack' card with our Christmas 'good news' PLUS a $10 note to sweeten up the whole package! :) (coming by the following day it was a little disheartening to see the money gone and the 'good news' remaining in its place... if only the true value of the message was understood! I hope they felt blessed none the less!) Onward from there to our local shops, Shane had to take Hudson for a trip to the loo... He took the sticky tape and 'good news' and taped it up next to the urinal! I was really hoping he would take a picture of this to show you, but alas, he did not... :)

We had a couple more 'rack' cards with $2 that the kids stuck into a little play car like we did previously. Went into Woolies and bought a coke and chocolate bar which I took to one of my favourite shop keepers! I noticed she was in the store room when I came past, and I was hoping to quickly sneak it in and leave it on the counter next to the cash register , with the 'rack' note attached. But she was turning back as I entered the store so I sheepishly passed over the treats. She was surprised, and seemed very pleased! The ladies in this store are always so friendly and chatty, it was really fun to be able to do this small thing to bless them in return. I headed back to Shane and the kids, who had gone back into Woolies to buy a gift to put under the 'Salvos tree' that was set up in the shop foyer. The kids chose a cool ninja turtles sleeping bag/back pack. Mission complete. We headed back home! Yesterday afternoon I walked down to the pharmacy to get the second round of anti-biotics for the girls (tonsilitis! AGAIN!) While we were waiting for the script, we stuck another 'rack' card with $2 on it to the bus stop out front.

I think the most fun we had with this random kindness thing was yesterday afternoon, after church. We went through the Mcdonalds drive-thru. Fortunately someone came in behind us after we ordered (at first no one seemed to be coming and we were thinking we might have to drive-thru twice!) We ordered happy meals for the kids and then Shane explained to the guy taking orders that we were doing acts of kindness and wanted to pay for the guy behind us.
 "Really?! Are you sure? It could be a lot of money!" Yeah we were sure!
 "AW! That is the sweetest thing. Aw that is so sweet of you!"

He was so sweet, the way he kept saying 'sweet'! Aw! His reaction was really lovely! I was expecting we would pay the bill for the guy behind ($9) and be on our way, before he got a chance to grasp what had just happened. What we were not expecting was for this lovely young man, to get out of his car in the drive-thru and walk over to us, looking all bewildered and happy and thanking us- apologetic for not having something for US!! Heck! Was not expecting that! You really don't have to have anything for us! :) We said Merry Christmas and waved him off and he headed back to the car (you can see him getting in his car in that bottom picture).

It really was fun! Just to do the unexpected, an act of generosity for someone you don't know, and who can't do anything in return, but makes them feel special. We loved it! Shane was all "that's the best $9 I've ever spent!" definitely will do that again! Maybe we will make it a family tradition? ;) Now THAT's what I call a happy meal! ;)

RACK part 2 and the life that goes with it

Well we have had a fun few days since I last posted. I have to say though, I am glad that I have kept most of the activities fairly 'low-key', especially since it is my first time venturing into the world of 'acts of random kindness' and bringing my children along with me. It is a busy time of year...

Today I rushed out after school drop off to get to our church playgroup, (did I mention that last night I got about 4 hours sleep due to a teething child?) the final one for the year, and I had baked some gingerbread Christmas trees to be decorated by the kids. I did that yesterday afternoon with Hudson, while Zipporah napped. The decorating was a hit! I had baked and another girl had brought along the decorations and icing, even just that small sharing of the role, meaning I only had to bring the cookies made the task of baking seem that much lighter. It's funny how much a mental block doing things can be... The straw that breaks the camel's back can be something as little as having to make an extra trip to the shops for gingerbread decorations, as well as doing the baking itself. I am so glad that I can work as part of a team with other ladies at our church- thanks again Misty :)! (I am pretty sure the feeling was mutual as Misty seemed rather overwhelmed at the thought of baking gingerbread cookies for everyone.) Just before I had left for playgroup I received a call from the dental clinic. At the exact moment of receiving the call I remembered the reminder text from a couple of days ago...Ah! The appointment was for 9:50am Thursday. Why on earth had I not realised that at no point were we going to be able to make it?! The lady kindly rescheduled us for later in the afternoon. 2:20pm that should be fine, post-party no worries.

Anyway, after playgroup we drove home (Shane was with me as he had something on this morning and picked me up) I remembered with a start that Charlotte's class party was at 12:30 and I had promised to bring food and come for the party! Shane dropped me at the shops while he got petrol (we were getting dangerously low) I bought some sushi (special request from the party girl) and dashed home and just about beat Shane after getting petrol! It was 12:45, Zipporah goes down for a nap. I sliced up the sushi onto a platter and chucked Hudson in the stroller, got to the party just before 12. The sushi was happily received.

After chilling with the reception kids and mum's I begin to make my way home- though only after a stand-off with a reluctant Hudson. A stand-off that I failed to win, even after seriously calling his bluff and disappearing from his view for a good few minutes!! He remained un flustered  and stalwart in his defiance. I snuck up from the side as he was watching for me from another direction, but I wasn't quick enough and he dashed up the playground with a cheeky grin.  A few pathetic threatenings later and I threw my dignity to the wayside, jumping up and chasing him down, cornering him by the slide and tunnel, I threw him over my shoulder fireman style and home we went, with minimal protests, I think he quite enjoyed the whole process.

There was a little window of calm as Zipporah was still sleeping when I got home (BTW my husband was home working I hadn't abandoned my baby during this time) and Hudson played contentedly on his own (Okay...he was on the ipad.) Arien was finishing up some cool pictures we had employed him to do of the girls, caricatures of them with their teacher's to give as part of their gift. I found the photo paper, resized the photos and printed, trimmed and added to the gift bag. Zipporah awakes and has a little play in the back yard, before it's time to head back to school for school pick up. The girl's proudly took their gifts to the teacher's. We stayed at school for a while longer, enjoying the play equipment and running around (well not me so much, I sat and watched). As we made our way home it hit me; I TOTALLY FORGOT the dentist appointment!!! TWICE IN ONE DAY! Ahhh! SO embarrassing! I rang the dentist apologising profusely and she was very gracious! We have rescheduled for Februrary. :/

I think my point in relating some of the day's events is to say, having extra things to do, especially in December can quickly become a curse rather than a blessing. I think it is really important if we decide to do things 'to make it special for the kids' we have to enjoy it too. If we don't enjoy it, than it's not really going to be a special time. We will resent it, and them most likely. I think WE have to be excited about whatever it is we are doing and see its value and do-ability. And for each family that is going to look different, depending on the children, their age and stage and depending on the Mother. Each of us have a unique personality and passions, which I do believe, make us the perfect Mother for OUR children. Comparison in areas such as these, as in so many others, is not profitable. Condemning ourselves about what we 'should' be doing is so counter-productive. Don't feel bad about what you aren't doing, just simply enjoy what you are doing. And most of all try and enjoy your kids. Their expectations are not as high as ours are! At the end of the day it's the love and enjoyment we experience in our relationships that really matter not how many activities we do.

Though I am doing something 'more' and different to what I have other years, and it has taken a bit of pre-thought, organisation and enthusiasm on my part. I have, I think, remained realistic about what we can achieve and enjoy during this time. Many of our activities have simply been to incorporate things I would do anyway- like the gifts for teachers. But the kids now have a bit more ownership and involvement. There have been a few acts of kindness that didn't really make it to the intended recipient (like the cards the girls made for the librarian and canteen helpers)...oh well!

The girls did do a great job of helping with the gingerbread making. We had enough to make a couple extra bags of cookies and so we took them to the PE teacher and the music teacher (they probably miss out on gifts at the end of the year I thought), it wasn't in our 'plan' it really was a random one! We have also had fun doing a few other little craft things together as part of our advent count down- decorating our mailbox, front door and little tree on the verge out front. Small little things, but they seem to find it quite thrilling! It's easy to get a mental block about having to do anything extra during the Christmas season. Having a fun and special Christmas season doesn't need to involve a lot of extra time and money and complications... Just looking out for little ways to make it brighter and special for one another, and remembering to ENJOY life along the way.

Random acts of Christmas kindness part 1!

December 2nd and we are into our month of advent activities. Instead of treats each day for the kids, they open up a labelled paper bag to discover what random act of kindness (or another others-focused activity) we will be doing.

Yesterday was day 1, since it was Sunday, I asked the girls to write a little note to someone at church. Easy to do and warmly received by recipients. Char is a lot more shy than Esther so she needs encouragement to do things like this, but it was not too confronting passing along a little envelope. Tick!

Today, the plan of action was to pin some $2 coins onto the ride-on cars at the local shops. The girls were pretty excited about this when we opened it up this morning and were eager to get on to it when they got home from school. They quickly changed and were a bundle of excitement to go on this sneaky venture! I was pleasantly surprised that Hudson had himself absorbed in some activity in the cubby house, involving ropes and buckets and didn't want to come along. I didn't push the point as Hudson is probably a tad young to appreciate what we were about to do, and I could foresee the potential for tantrums at not getting to ride the cars at the shops himself! So, he got to stay put with Uncle Arien and Opa and we headed on our merry way. (I narrowly avoided a mni break down myself as I couldn't find the santa sticky tape which, in my mind seemed absolutely essential for this activity....breathe... we found it!)

It was really fun coming to the shops with the sole purpose of doing sneaky kind things for other people and I really was amazed at how thrilled they were to do it AND they didn't ask for anything!(OK, almost! we did pass Wendy's on the way out and Esther cast a longing glance and a meek request my way, but coped with the negative response well).

Our first target was occupied, so we went to the next known kid-vehicle. The girls hopped in, bag in hand, whipped out the card and sticky tape and quickly fixed it, upside down, between the steering wheels (there is always two right?). Then, they quickly bounded out and we scurried away back to the first car which was now empty, same again, into the ambulance they hopped, out comes the sticky tape and card and job done!

We had two more cards with $2 coins and the challenge was what to do wtih them as there are no more ride ons at our shops... We popped into Foodland as I thought maybe we could stick it in the chocolate aisle...? A definite 'no' from Esther on that one... We rode up the escalator to the cinemas to see if the gamer machines were still there...Nope...Hmmmm...Esther had a brainwave. Back we walked to the toy store, and there was the perfect thing- a $2 toy dispenser machine thing, which I had never really observed. Brilliant!

The last one we stuck onto the inside of the 'whale' that is a popular play spot. Some lucky child will discover it and can spend as desired!

It was a great success for our first public outing of random acts! It really was fun to see the kids get into it and feel the joy of doing unexpected kindnesses to others... We did do a few laps around the shops to see what had been taken, the first car was empty upon our return!... It is slightly unsatisfying not to see the finder's reaction... But, the girls just had so much fun being the instigators and I think imagining how someone might respond and having the mystery of remaining anonymous is quite a thrill! And I love that their mind is getting off of themselves and onto others!