12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS BLOGGING CHALLENGE DAY #2- Random Acts of Kindness

This one has me stumped! Being kind to others is crucial, year round, so honestly what I'm thinking is do what people love to do this time of year- donate clothes and toys, volunteer at soup kitchens, donate food, etc... but do it when it's NOT during the holidays!   It's great for kids in need to get coats and toys for Christmas, but what about for their birthdays?  What about shorts in the summer?  They need help year round, so that could be your random act- do something nice at an unexpected time. For a not so random act of kindness my favorite tradition as a child was going to the local mall and choosing children to sponsor.  We had an orphanage and home for troubled teens in our town.  So every year they would be given pamphlets to fill out about what they want and need for the holidays.  The pamphlets would then be stapled to wooden trees in the mall court yard and we could take them, then bring back wrapped presents with the pamphlet attached. My mom would have me pick 5 children (she always wanted 6 total, so that's why she choose 5- you do what you can do, even 1 is a huge help) and I would then have to do the shopping for them.  We did this before we shopped for anyone else, I didn't get anything for it.  This taught me the great lesson of how much better it is to give than to receive!  I learned to not be the selfish brat who screams in a toy store because I want a gift that we're buying for someone else, and I learned to appreciate what I do have because my parents kept reminding me that these children didn't have the home and family that we have so we had to do this for them to have our kind of Christmas. If you have anything like this in your area I strongly recommend you not only taking part but having your children be active participants as well. To this day, I love getting gifts, but I'm a much bigger than of giving!