Random Acts of Kindness Day - Community 2023

  Today is Community Day for our Random Acts of Kindness.  Time to spread our kindness out into the community that we live in.  

Need a few ideas to get you started?

How about Making a Valentine for a local Senior in the community.  Or make several and drop them off at a local Senior Living Facility.  They will love it!

Write a Thank You card to your postal carrier, fire fighter, police officer, etc.

Bring in canned goods to a local food pantry.

Bring clothing, blankets or socks to a homeless shelter.

Donate some items (food, toys, old towels or bed sheets) to a local animal shelter

Pick up trash in your neighborhood

Leave a generous tip

Leave a surprise in a library book

Help a neighbor with yard work

Let someone go ahead of you in line today

Ask a senior what life was like when they were growing up

Feed a strangers parking meter

Bring reusable bags to stores

Tutor someone

Compliment people today

Pay for someone else's lunch/drink

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Have you been spreading kindness everywhere you go?

The week is almost over!

How many Random Acts of Kindness have you performed this week?

What good deeds have you done?

National Random Acts of Kindness Week - Work and School 2023

 We have been spreading all of this kindness everywhere this week!  How about showing a little kindness at our place of work or where are children are going to school?   Today is also National Random Acts of Kindness so, let's do an extra random act today to celebrate!

You spend quite a bit of time at work, why not do something nice for your co-workers?  What about the teachers at your child's school?  A quick little thank you note goes a long way.  Don't forget the office people, nurse and bus driver!  

What can you do today? 

How about: 

Send an encouraging email

Gift an inspirational book

Write a Thank You letter to your teacher

Find out something new about a co-worker (or friend at school)

Be a good listener

Bring a co-worker or friend a coffee

Tutor someone

Compliment people today

Bring flowers/coffee/tea/cookies or donuts to work/school

Need more ideas?  Check out Sunday's post for more fun!

National Random Acts of Kindness Week - Neighbor Day 2023

 The week continues for our Random Acts of Kindness.  Today we are focusing on our neighbors.  

What can you do for your neighbor today?

Wheel out (or in) your neighbor's trash and recycling bins

Put a surprise (cookies, Candy, flowers or a note) in your neighbor's mailbox

Bring a meal to a neighbor
Bake cookies for a neighbor
Shovel the driveway for one of your elderly neighbors
Visit with one of your elderly neighbors

Pick up a few extra items from the grocery store for an elderly neighbor

Can you think of any other nice, neighborly things to do today?  Let me know in the comments

How many RAOK's have you done so far this week?

National Random Acts of Kindness Week - Friends and Family 2023

 Random Acts of Kindness Week continues with our friends and family!   

Be extra kind to those you love the most today.  Your family.  Bring your parent a cup of coffee, tea or juice,  write a short kindness note to your parents, sibling(s) and spouse.  Offer to do an extra chore today.  Compliment your family members and catch them doing something great.  These tips work great for your friends, too!

Here are some more ideas for today:

Mail a thoughtful note to a friend or family member

Bake some treats for someone special

Send a text message just to say hello or I Love you

Be a good listener

Surprise someone with flowers

Need more ideas?  Check out Sunday's post!

How many kind deeds have you performed this week?

National Random Acts of Kindness Week - Be The Sunshine

  It's Random Acts of Kindness Week!  Time to do as many random acts of kindness that we can each day! 

Today we are going to be the sunshine.  

Things you can do to be the sunshine.

Wear a bright colored shirt today and bring in the sunshine!  

Be sure to smile at someone new today.  

Oh, and remember to be kind to yourself today as well.

Here are some other ideas for today:

Send a text to someone just to say hello

Bake cookies for someone

Bring someone a souvenir

Smile

Compliment people today

Send a care package to a friend or family member

Send someone a handwritten letter

Pay for someone's coffee today

Have a great day!

National Random Acts of Kindness Week - 2023

This week is National Random Acts of Kindness Week.  The one week out of the year that is dedicated to performing as many Random Acts of Kindness as possible.

If you haven't made a New Year's Resolution, maybe this is it?  This would be an awesome challenge for your Girl Scout Troop!  I'm sure there is a fun patch that the girls can earn, or they can make their own patch!

Are you up for the challenge?

Well, here we go!

Here are some ideas of kind deeds that you can perform this week.

The Challenges:

Smile at 25 people

Slip a nice note in your friend's backpack (child's lunch or spouse's briefcase/purse)

Compliment 5 people

Pick up 10 pieces of garbage on a walk

Make a new friend

Tell a joke and make someone laugh

Be kind to yourself and eat a healthy snack

Learn something new about your friend, co-worker, spouse

Draw a picture and give it to someone

Recycle your trash

Hug your friend

Cut out 10 hearts and give them to friends

Entertain someone with a happy dance

Make a kind poster for cafeteria helpers

Say "Good Morning" to 5 people

Make a wish for a child in another country

Say "Thank you" to a crossing guard

Invite a new friend to hang out with you

Send a Thank You to your Superintendent

Offer to help your custodian

Sit with a new Group of people at lunch

Read a book to a younger child

Give an Apple or note to your Teacher

Step up for someone in need

Make and display a "Kindness Matters" sign

Make a bookmark for a friend

Hold the door open for someone

Thank a bus driver or car pool driver

Write a "Thank you" on a band aid for a Nurse

Whisper "Thank you" to the Librarian

Help someone up if they fall down

Learn to say "Hello" in a different language

Bring a flower to the office staff

Say "Thank you" to a volunteer

Make a friendship gift for someone new to you

Thank a Mail Carrier, Police Officer, Fire Fighter

Add some kind deeds of your own.

I challenge you to perform as many kind deeds as you can this week.  Check off your kind acts as you go.

What a great way to start the week!

How many kind deeds will you do this week?

Twelve Days of Christmas

 This year I'm celebrating fun National weeks throughout the year.  Here we are, the last national week for the year, the Twelve Days of Christmas.

This holiday is not the song about giving a bunch of birds to a loved one.  This holiday starts with the birth of Jesus and ends when the three Magi arrived in Bethlehem.  Each day celebrates the feast day of a saint.  The following is 

25th the birth of Christ

26th St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr

27th St. John the Apostle

28th the Feast of the Holy Innocents - the baby boys that King Harrod killed when trying to find Jesus

29th St. Thomas Beckett - archbishop of Canterbury.  Killed when challenged the King's authority over the church

30th St. Egwin of Worcester - a Benedictine monk

31st Pope Sylvester I, one of the first Popes

1st  Mary, the Mother of Jesus

2nd St. Basil the Great

3rd Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus - Celebrates naming Jesus in the Jewish Temple

4th St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, first American Saint

5th St. John Neumann the first Bishop in America

You know I can't continue without first adding what the twelve days are in the Greek Orthodox Church.  So, here we go:

Dec 25  Jesus birth

26 Synaxis of the Virgin - praise to Mary for giving birth to our Lord

27  St. Stephen, a martyr who was stoned to death

28 Martyrs of Nicomedia - in 302 AD Emperor Maximian Hercules, while visiting Nicomedia heard of a large number of Christians living there and wanted to kill them.  While they were all in church, his soldiers surrounded the church and they were asked to deny Christ and be free to go or burn.  They chose to burn.

29 Feast of Holy Innocents - children that died because of King Herod

30 Deacon Timon 

31 Martyr Zoticus, Protector of the Poor and Holy Mother Melanie of Rome

1  St. Basil the Great

2  St. Sylvester, Bishop of Rome

3  Prophet Malachi

4  Synaxis of the 70 Apostles  - the men that followed the 12 apostles

5  Hieromartyr Theopemptos, Bishop of Nicomedia and also Martyr Theonas

The 6th is the Holy observance of Jesus' baptism.

Ways to celebrate the week:

Open one present every day (instead of all at once)

Volunteer at a soup kitchen or help someone in need

Read through the Gospel of Luke, which gives an entire account of Jesus birth

Thanks for celebrating the weird, fun, interesting national weeks with me!

Saturnalia

 This year I'm celebrating interesting week celebrations throughout the year.  The year is almost over but I still have a couple more holidays for us to celebrate.   

Saturnalia is a mid December holiday (think December 17-23) that honors the Roman god, Saturn, the god of agriculture.  Saturnalia was a Roman festival that offered sacrifices (or gifts) to the gods in the winter season.   During this holiday, everything shut down.  Businesses closed.  No school.  Homes were decorated and the people put on bright colored togas.  Even the servants participated.  In fact, the owners served them!  The holiday was celebrated by singing, dancing, eating, gambling and of course, gift giving.  It was known as "the best of times."

How to celebrate?

Invite friends and family over for a meal.  Make sure you throw some music and games in there.   Oh and don't forget to post on social media, #Saturnalia 

Some important things to remember when celebrating:

Wear green and gold.  These are the official colors of the holiday.

Decorate.  Covering doorways, walls, staircases with lights and garland

Make some cookies in the shape of stars and moons

Give out small goodies to your friends and family as they leave

Oh, and don't forget to have a great time!

Now this sounds like a fun holiday to celebrate!

Halcyon Days

 This year I am celebrating the interesting national weeks throughout the year.  Today is the start of Halcyon Days.

Halcyon Days is observed for two weeks and coincides with unusually calm seas.  I needed a little background on this celebration.  This started from Greek mythology.  The goddess Halcyone, the goddess of winds, married a mortal who drowned at sea during a bad storm.  Halcyone loved her husband so much that she jumped into the sea after him.  The other gods and goddesses saw this and turned them both into birds.  For two weeks during the winter season (the week before and after the Winter Solstice), the winds are calm on the sea so the birds can build nests on the water and lay eggs peacefully.

How to observe #HalcyonDays or #HalcyonWeek

Halcyon Days describes a time of happiness and success.  Other key words used: happy, golden, peaceful, blissful, carefree, joyful, idyllic and contented.  The holiday season can become quite hectic.  This is a great time to focus on having halcyon days with your family.

It's also a great time to brush up on your Greek Mythology and check out the full story on Halcyon. 

National Handwashing Awareness Week

 This year I am celebrating interesting weeks throughout the year.  This week is National Handwashing Awareness Week.

I was unable to locate the history behind this week.  I'm thinking this was started in 2020 because of the pandemic as a reminder to wash your hands.

This celebration is set during the winter months when colds and flu run rampant and serves as a gentle reminder to always wash your hands.  

80% of diseases can be transferred by touch.

Washing your hands a few times per day can reduce diarrhea rates by 40%.

Touching your face can spread sickness, pneumonia, a cold and the flu.

The most important times to wash your hands are before and after making food and after using the bathroom.

Less than 75% of women and less than 50% of men wash their hands after the bathroom.

The ideal amount of time to wash hands is 30 seconds (but 15 seconds ok).

Most bacteria on our hands are underneath our fingernails.  Always make sure to clean under them.

Studies show that people who wash their hands use fewer sick days

Are you as grossed out as I am?  

By the way, I'm one of the people who wash their hands often.  Maybe a little too much.  

Ok, let's get through the rest of this, shall we?

How to observe #NationalHandwashingWeek

Make a point to wash your hands several times per day.  Yea, after reading those statistics above, I think you will be washing your hands after reading this post.  

And posting to social media might be a great idea to remind your friends and family to wash their hands. 

National Better Conversation Week

 This year I am celebrating interesting weeks throughout the year.  This week is National Better Conversation Week.

Another great placement for national weeks.  Families getting together means lots of conversations happening.  This week focuses on having more meaningful conversations with the people in our lives.  Some experience anxiety in small and large gatherings of people.  And, well, let's face it, sometimes our family members or conversation topics can cause anxiety.  The week focuses on the awkward silences, odd transitions and topic starters.

Some ways to get the conversation started:

Listen.

Ask a question.

Longer Answers. (More than a "Yes" or "No")

Offer assistance. (help out in the kitchen or set the table)

Share something new. (new job, hobby or vacation are always great conversation starters)

How to observe #BetterConversationWeek

Get your conversation starters ready.  Make a list of topics to talk about with your family.  And, if you have some of "those" family members, you might have to add a list of topics to avoid.

National Game and Puzzle Week

 This year I am celebrating national weeks throughout the year.  This week is National Game and Puzzle Week.  

Families around the country will be gathering together this week to celebrate Thanksgiving.  This is a great time to break out the puzzles and board (or card) games.  Games and puzzles help keep the brain sharp and they also bring families together.  Both young and old can join in on the fun. 

How to observe #GameAndPuzzleWeek:

Contact family and friends before the big day asking them to bring a favorite game/puzzle to dinner.

Grab the cards, puzzle, dice, board games and have fun with your family!

Don't forget to share on social media!

National Free Speech Week

 This year I am celebrating the fun and interesting national weeks throughout the year.  This week happens to be National Free Speech Week.

Free Speech Week is an annual, weeklong celebration of the first amendment, raising awareness of the importance of free speech and freedom of the press.   These are rights that all Americans share.  This week urges us to learn about and be aware of this freedom.

How to observe #FreeSpeechWeek

Let your voice be heard.

Understand your rights to free speech and exercise them.

Raise awareness by telling your friends and teaching your children about their speech and press freedom and how it affects their lives.

Exercise your freedom of speech by posting a message online.  Compose a poem.  Display a bumper sticker on your car.  Write a letter to the editor.

How will you let your voice be heard this week? 

National School Lunch Week

 This year I'm posting the interesting weeks throughout the year.  This week happens to be National School Lunch Week.

School lunches have been available since 1946.  This week focuses on healthy food choices, balanced diets and portion sizes.  Most cafeteria staff know the children and their eating habits.  They take great pride in their work and strive to put out the best meals with the resources they are provided to them.

Back when I was in elementary school (the stone ages), the cafeteria staff actually made the lunches right there in the lunchroom.  The lunches were homemade, and some were pretty tasty.  I did change schools and tried the hot lunches there and found them to be quite bland.  They were brought in from an outside source and had absolutely no flavor.  Today the food provided by the school is brought in from an outside source and, according to my children, awful.  (They are food snobs.  The majority of the meals they have eaten growing up have been homemade)

How to observe #SchoolLunchWeek

Visit your school's cafeteria and learn about the lunches that are available.

What were the school lunches like when you were in school?  Did you buy hot lunch often or brown bag it?

National Carry a Tune Week

 This year I'm celebrating the interesting National Weeks throughout the year.  This week is National Carry a Tune Week.

This week caught my attention because RT has a tendency to hear a tune (or song) and sing it for weeks on end.  I'm thinking he might be one of the founders of this week.

I did a little research and found that this is an online event and is used to prompt people to recall a tune that brings out good memories and to carry that tune with them all week long. (something RT should have NO PROBLEM doing).

The American Tune Lovers Society opens up a survey so people can suggest their favorite tune.  These tunes can be from school days, a favorite song on the radio, a love relationship, a concert or any other time.  The tune must be American origin and recorded before 2001.  

There are six categories of tunes: Patriotic, Folk, Religious, Pop, Classical and Film.

How to observe #CarryATuneWeek:

Decide on a tune that you want to carry for a week and submit it to the organizers.

Let loose with that tune.  Belt it out or hum it, even if you are off key.

Ugh.  I'm wondering why I picked this week.  I envision hearing RT belting out, "Jolene" for weeks to come. 

Pray for me.

National Newspaper Week

 This year I am celebrating the fun National Weeks throughout the year.  This week is dedicated to Bella, who has been writing articles for her school newspaper.  Today starts National Newspaper Week.  This week recognizes newspapers and their employees.

Newspapers record events and are the first record of history.

Did you know?

The oldest published newspaper began in 1764, the Hartford Currant

Newspapers started out as weekly and monthly.  They did not become daily until the 1790's.

Newspapers reported biasedly and opinionatedly until 1923.  At that time The American Society of Newspaper Editors adopted the primary rule of journalism, "news reports should be free of opinion or bias of any kind."

How to observe #NationalNewspaperWeek

Send a thank you to the publisher, editor, reporter or columnist.

Purchase a subscription to show your pride.

Thanks, Bella!  I enjoy reading your articles.

How will you celebrate today?

International Postcard Week

 This year I'm celebrating the interesting National Weeks throughout the year.  International Postcard week celebrates those fun little cards you mail (mainly when you are off on vacation).

The postcard became popular in the late 1800's, making it easier to communicate with loved ones far away.  The cards did not require an envelope and were a lot less expensive to mail.  They became popular to send to friends and family while on vacation, giving a little glimpse of the place they are visiting.  

Some fun facts about postcards:

Deltiology is the art of collecting postcards.

Donald McGill created the best-selling postcard of all time, selling over 6 million copies.

Old postcards can sell for hundreds or thousands of dollars at auctions.

How to observe #PostcardWeek

Send someone a postcard.  If you can't find one to buy, why not make one on your own?  Just remember the cards have to be 3.5 x 5, in order to be considered a postcard.

Who will you send a postcard to?

National Fall Foliage Week

 This year I am celebrating interesting national weeks throughout the year.  This week is National Fall Foliage Week.

National Fall Foliage Week was created in 2014 to bring families together to observe the changing colors.  For many people, Fall is their favorite time of year.  Crisp, cooler days, pumpkins, pumpkin spice, leaves changing colors.

How to observe the holiday:

Go for a walk or hike in the woods.  Sometimes you can just walk down your street.

Go for a scenic drive.

Visit a National Park.

Go apple picking

Check out some of the local fall festivals in your area.

Visit a pumpkin patch.

Splurge on a fun, fall drink (pumpkin spiced latte, perhaps?)

Use #fallfoliageweek on social media.

National Indoor Plant Week

 This year I am celebrating the interesting National Weeks throughout the year.  This week is National Indoor Plant Week.

This week is set aside to promote the importance of live plants in our homes (offices, etc.).  Indoor plants are much more than a decoration.  Plants clean the air, reduce noise, create oxygen and remove carbon dioxide. They are also known to lower your risk for illness and boost your mood.  If you name your plants, they can also become friends or family members.

How to observe the week:

Buy a plant for your house

Already have plants at home?  If you haven't already, how about showing them a little love by fertilizing them.  Clean their leaves (they collect dust).  Take a plant class to learn how to care for your plants.

And don't forget to use #IndoorPlantsWeek on social media.

National Be Kind to Humankind Week

 This year I am celebrating the fun, interesting national weeks.  This week is National Be Kind to HumanKind Week (August 25-31).

This holiday was founded by Lorraine Jara.  Lorraine heard a sad story about two boaters that were involved in a boating accident and were clinging to life.  Other boaters did not want to be bothered to stop and help these two men.  One of the men died.  Lorraine decided to honor them by creating this week to get people to do kindnesses for others.  Each day is laid out on who to help that day.

Sunday

Help those that are homebound.  This could mean sick or elderly.  Pick up some groceries and maybe stay for a quick little visit.

Motorist Monday

Drive courteously.

Touch a heart Tuesday

Encourage others in their dreams

Willing to Lend a hand Wednesday

Offer a helping hand.  Maybe it's a neighbor or a friend or even a new mom.

Thoughtful Thursday

Hold the door open for someone.  Offer to let someone go ahead of you in line.

Forgive your foe Friday

Contact that person (family member) that you have had words and make amends.  It's time to extend that olive branch.

Speak Nice Words Saturday

Speak only nice words.  Teach your children to do the same so they grow up to be friendly, respectful adults.

You can use #BeKindToHumankind or #BK2HK on social media.