26 Acts of Kindness

Things are crazy these days.  I finally broke down and talked to my kids about the shooting in CT the other day.  I was donating some pillowcases to a charitable cause for the effort and Sam kept wanting to know what I was donating for.  I finally broke down and told her.  She didn't seem all that surprised.  She had heard about it at school and I guess they've talked about it.  Neither one of the older kids seemed all that surprised actually.  Fortunately neither one of them seemed stressed or worried about it either.  Kudos to their teachers.

This morning, the school district canceled school at the high school in Hyrum.  Apparently, last night a student at MC tweeted he was going to bring a gun to school and "kill myself and possibly others."  The district and police department felt that since they didn't know who the threat came from, the safest thing to do was to cancel school at the high school.  I was surprised they didn't cancel school at my kids' school since it's DIRECTLY behind the high school.  What they ended up doing was stationing teachers and the principal at each door or lock the unmanned doors.  They were told that any student who was not a member of the student body at that particular school was not to be allowed into the school.  There were also 2 police cars at the school when I dropped Nash off.  The principal also took some other precautions.  The kids had indoor recess so they weren't out in the open.  The teachers kept their classroom doors locked all day and for the most part, the classroom doors were shut.  This prevented a lot of extra kids in the hallways and no one could come in or out without someone knowing who was coming in or out of the room.  I think they did a great job.  I told Nash that I was going to drop Caleb off at preschool and then I'd come to his school.  I had to be there at 11 to help with Sam's class party anyway, so I figured I would feel better being in the school with the kids for that extra two hours.  After I dropped Caleb off at preschool I went back to the school.  I checked in at the office and got an awesome fluorescent orange sticker that identified me as a visitor.  I then went to Nash's class.  His teacher was very welcoming of me in her classroom.  I told her I was just there to be an extra body/help for two hours.  I was able to help monitor while they took a spelling test, help with minor needs while the kids made Christmas cards for their parents and then help with m&m math.  At 11 am I went over to Sam's class.  We had her class Christmas party that lasted for an hour.  While I was in Nash's class I learned that one of the parents that was suppose to come to help with their class party hadn't sent her child to school that day.  I told Nash's teacher that I could come back and help.  So, after I finished up in Sam's class, I took a short break and then went back to Nash's class to help with his class party.  Turns out I was at the school for the entire school day although I had only originally intended to be there for about an hour!  I was impressed with the way the teachers talked to the kids about what was going on and I was impressed with how easily the administration was able to increase the security in the school.  Kudos Canyon Elementary!

A few days ago I read the article that has been circulating about the 26 Acts of Kindness.  I decided I'd join the effort.  Here is what I've done so far:

Act of Kindness #1: I donated 4 pillowcases to My Girlfriend's Quilt Shop.  I read an article online.  They had received a shout out from a quilt shop in CT that was trying to get 600 pillowcases.  They wanted to give one to each student, faculty and staff member at the Sandy Hook Elementary School as well as each of the first responders.  My Girlfriend's Quilt Shop had extended hours on Tuesday this week and at the end of that day they had around 400 pillowcases.  I stopped in on Thursday on my way to take kids to get their allergy shots for the week and dropped off 4 more.  I asked if they knew how many pillowcases they had and I was told, "Over 1,000 now."  That is amazing!

Act of Kindness #2: I measured out my long, blonde locks and got them packaged to send to Locks of Love.  My cousin Nat told me she had measured my pony tails at a little more than 10 inches.  After we chopped the pony tails she told me she took off another two inches.  Well, in measuring my pony tails I learned that they were actually just over 12 inches!  That means I cut 14" of hair off!  I did not think my hair was that long!

Act of Kindness #3: A friend of mine has a sister who was in a very horrible car accident the other day.  The accident left her mother in law deceased.  It also left her left leg in shambles, her 2 1/2 year old looks like he had a baseball bat taken to him and her 2 week old baby was injured as well.  They live in Montana and hadn't been able to go Christmas shopping yet due to weather.  She and her husband were going to go this weekend.  Now she's in the hospital along with the 2 week old and they are planning a funeral.  Meanwhile there's no one to do the Christmas shopping for their five kids.  So, we "adopted" the family and are sending some love.

 Not sure what I'll come up with for my other acts of kindness yet.  I did join Sunset Crochet on FB and am going to help out with their 12 days of Christmas challenge.  The challenge is to make 12 crocheted hats for babies in the NICU.  I hold a special spot for NICU because I've had a nephew and a niece spend time there after they were born.  This challenge actually runs Dec. 25-Jan. 6 so I know I should be able to get this one done on time!  Just crossing my fingers that the patterns aren't too complicated to figure out - I'm still very much a beginner crochet-er!

Merry Christmas!