When my husband and I first found out Maddie was coming, we spent a lot, and I mean A LOT, of time talking about what type of person we hoped she would be, and what values we wanted to instill in her.  We hoped she would be passionate about politics, interested in the world and people around her and an avid New York Jets fan (okay- that was Jason’s wish, not so much mine).  The one “mantra” we kept coming back to, over and over again, was “If someone needs help, you help them.”

Becoming Community Outreach Manager for my beloved LakeNormanMommies is such an amazing opportunity to live, breath and teach Maddie exactly what this means.  It is my hope, that every few weeks, I can share a small and easy way for you to teach our children caring and compassion.  Yes, we will certainly have big outreach projects, and initiatives that come down from The Mommies Network, but I am hoping to give you fast, hands on, ideas that can get your child more community minded.  Little ways every day (or every few weeks) that our little lovies can put to action “If someone needs help, you help them”.

So- here’s our first one:  Do you have an over abundant, beautiful garden with more flowers than you can possibly enjoy?  Cut some flowers and bring them to a local assisted living facility or nursing home.  If your child is old enough, have them make and decorate the vase from a jar.  If you like, you could do this every few weeks until your flowers stop blooming.  You could put them in a common area each time, or ask one of the employees to share them with a resident who doesn’t get many visitors.

I would love to hear about how this goes over in all our families.  Please PM me, or feel free to brag about your compassionate, generous and loving little one on the boards!

Happy Helping!