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Posts Tagged ‘family’

During the year its always important to give back to others around you…this ‘giving’ can be to friends and family members or to complete strangers who are in need.

When it comes to giving, it is even more important to give back to those in need during the holiday season.

As I sit here this morning having my bagel and coffee, I am reflecting back over the entire year and remembering everything that I have done for those through out the year.

We have donated clothing (adults and kids) to those in need. We have donated a bag of groceries every month for the past 12 months to a single mom with 4 children. I have taught crafting and cooking classes to local troubled teens in our area 6 times this past year.

We have done a lot…including volunteering to mow grass, cleaning and home maintaince for local seniors in our community who can’t afford to hire outside help.

As I sit here sipping on my coffee this morning, I am very proud of the ‘good deeds’ my husband and I have done all year long to help others who are less fortunate than ourselves. This brings a smile to my face and a warm feeling in my heart.

Have you remembered to ‘pay it forward’ this year? Have you done something special for someone in need this holiday season? If not, the year isn’t over yet and there is still time for you to do something special for someone else.

~ Shelly ~

Every fall I look forward to getting things organized and cleaned up around our home as the holidays are just around the corner. I like to set aside one full weekend in early October just for our fall cleaning.

As a housewife, I don’t tackle this job myself. There is no reason why your spouse and children can’t do their fair share of the work…after all, they live in the house too.

I try to make our fall cleanup weekend fun by ordering takeout food so that no one has to spend time cooking. We choose a few music CDs to play during the weekend to get us all motivated for the cleaning tasks that we need to complete.

Once our weekend is over, the family gets a reward. We usually reward ourselves with a new item for the home that the family can enjoy. When our daughter was younger, she was given money so that she could go out with her friends. What I have learnt is…children are more apt to get involved and help out, if there is something in it for them.

If you start when your children are young and make this a family event, over the years this will become a regular fall routine. Our daughter knew that the weekend was approaching and would keep her schedule free. This ‘routine’ saved us a lot of stress as every family member knew what was expected from them ahead of time.

Here are a few important tips:

1. If you can afford it, do a few takeout meals during the weekend. This will save you time plus it acts as a family reward for your cleaning participants.

2. Make the weekend fun. Play music, joke around with the family and keep it light-hearted. Don’t run around barking orders and rushing to get things done.

3. As a family, sit down before your cleaning starts and decide what the family reward will be. We always picked things like a new television, stereo, comfy chair, trampoline for the backyard, etc.

4. Have a prepared list of chores that you want to get done. Have each family member select a few of those items that he/she can get done. Try to equally split up the tasks. Smaller children can assist the older children or parents.

~ Shelly ~