The traditional advent calendar would have little chocolates, toys, etc. nested inside each pocket or window. Not mine. Thanks to a fellow mom (thanks Katie H.), I got the idea to turn our advent calendar into an opportunity to teach my kids that Christmas is not about getting the latest toy, but rather doing things for others.
It was my goal to take each day in December and do a "random" act for or to someone. I use the word random in quotes there, because most of what we did wasn't random at all...it was plotted out. There were a few truly random, spur of the moment acts, however....like the person behind us in the 228th Ave Starbuck drive thru who's coffee & snacks we paid for today. I haven't been able to hit every single day in December, but I've certainly tried.
I keep my own personal blog, where each day I posted what our "RACK" (Random Act of Christmas Kindess) was. Here are few of the RACK's we have embarked on so far this December:
- Paper white bulbs to an unsuspecting elderly woman
- Cookies to our neighborhood fire station
- Hot coffee & cookies for a Salvation Army Bell Ringer (donation included!)
- Christmas gifts for a family of 4 via the YWCA in Issaquah
We aren't the only Sammamish residents partaking in this though...several of my fellow MOPS (Mother's of Preschoolers) Mom's are also doing this. So if you were "RACK'd" this year, it could have been any one of us! And I think it is only fitting that after we embarked on this task that Sammamish was named the friendliest town in America.
So why am I blogging about this? I guess in hopes that someone might read this & decide to do something for someone else, if not this Christmas season, just sometime in the future. Or maybe, you can do this next year for your advent calendar...kindess is contagious.
