it's getting pretty whiny around here. these last weeks of summer can really ride your last nerve. let's make them meaningful before that school bell rings.
here is a super cute "at home craft/ recycle/ be kind to animals" type of project.
the video link below is step by step instructions for building a birdhouse from a milk carton. it's not the newest idea on the block, but it will keep kids entertained. why not add to the fun by getting a hold of some binoculars and keeping a journal of all the visitors your house attracts. budding photographers can get in on the act as well.
as with ALL acme sharing projects, you can spend as much or as little time on it depending on the age and attention span of your offspring.
the lesson: helping nature helps us all.
***added bonus: the sweet tweets coming in from the window make a happier home.
looking to keep your kids busy this summer - look no further than your mailbox.
set up a "postal system so as not to go postal"
kids can retrieve and SORT the mail.
ask them to throw the "penny saver" type junk mail right into the recycle bin.
now ask them to find a box large enough for the catalogs. all summer, they can fill up the catalog box with everything you aren't interested in (which is pretty much all of it. or do you really need "the peruvian collection"?) and then they can list them so that you can stop them.
there are companies (listed below) that, on your behalf, will STOP these catalogs from coming to you. some of them even stop junk mail. happy dance happy dance!
the lesson: trees glorious trees! i'd rather have them than the latest mortgage payment lowering scam, you?
added bonus: you won't be tempted to just look at the "garnet hill" sale since you KNOW you don't need anything.
mmmm, ahhhh, spring is in the air. smells a bit like... rotten crocs from last summer???
say what you will about crocs, yes, unattractive, yes, ubiquitous, yes, middle-american children everywhere running around in them, but they really serve their purpose. cheap (ish), slip on, waterproof and ALMOST indestructible. now that we are spring cleaning and gearing up for the warmer months, here is the place for those shredded crocs that haven't seen sunlight in months. SOLES UNITED will take old worn out pairs and recycle them into new, wearable ones to send to children in need.
the lesson: waste not want not?
added bonus: once you're already back there in the dark corners of your kid's closet, you might find some treasure. not sure what, but that's what makes it an added bonus.
here's a link: "soles united" for info and drop off locations
if your house is anything like mine, there is PLENTY to do. so why is it that "i'm bored" has ever been said aloud? when your kids have the gall to say it, here's a new one: give them a bottle of glue, a stapler and send them in the direction of the recycle bin. you may need to step in and help with a low temp glue gun. but a milk carton and an empty container of sour cream together with the sunday paper and an egg carton can make for some pretty fabulous modern art.
the lesson: talk to your kids about the resources on earth and how one day they will not always all be available. recycling and reusing is a way they can help conserve. this might not feel like giving back, but it is. it really is.
***added bonus, the blue bins won't be so heavy to push to the street on trash day.
clearly not the most glamorous nor innovative philanthropic event, but a can drive is true americana. invite your child to make fliers (or print out a dozen copies on your printer) and deliver them door to door amongst your neighbors. these fliers should look something like this:
hi neighbor,
i am collecting cans for the local ___.
i will be back tomorrow around __ pm to pick up any canned food that you can spare.
thanks for your help.
sincerely,
your child's name.
when you go back to collect, don't forget some empty grocery bags, and a radio flyer wagon if you have one. once you and your child have delivered the cans, the next weekend's project can include teaching them to write thank you cards to those neighbors who were kind enough to participate.
if you are unable to find a recipient, any local church or temple will gladly take whatever you've collected and get them into the right hands (and mouths).
the lesson: talk about food. what they like best, when they feel most hungry, what they know how to cook, or what they want to learn to cook. talk about how your child never has to think about when their next meal will be or from where it will come; how some families aren't quite so lucky and how we can help those in need.
***added bonus: since getting yourself to the gym is your worst enemy, you will work those triceps lifting bags of cans for the afternoon!
as it is now january, the month of cleaning out, i suggest you and your kids put on some music, pop some popcorn, sit on the family room floor and go through all of your DVDs. this is an easy project that not only helps you feel organized, but it also gives back. KID FLICKS is a KID run organization started by 2 teenage sisters in los angeles. they distribute movies to pediatric wards of more than 200 hospitals all over the U.S. and even in South Africa.
the lesson: talk to your kids about how they might feel if they were stuck in a hospital bed. if they were feeling sick or scared and away from home, what would make them feel safe.
Thought you might enjoy my latest Greenwich Time column, which is non-political for a change:
British or Aussie expats among you might remember the long-running soap opera "Neighbours." The theme song went something like this: "Neighbours, everybody needs good neighbours ..." It's been running through my head constantly since we moved into our new house in Cos Cob.
From the day we closed on the house, we've felt incredibly welcome. Although we weren't scheduled to move in till the following week, I went round straight after the closing and unloaded all the stuff that I'd been hauling around in the back of the car for the previous few weeks since we'd moved out of our old house. Later that afternoon, as soon as school was out, a posse of kids gathered on my doorstep, led by my No. 1 fan, Justine, whom I'd met when she sent me an e-mail after reading my book.
Justine has a bright future in public relations, because all the kids were under the impression that I'm a "famous author," to the point that my next-door neighbor Jack asked me if I go places in a limousine. I think he's got me confused with a genuinely famous author like Nora Roberts or J.K. Rowling, but we authors being a notoriously insecure lot, I'll take my adulation whenever I can get it.
I did, however, disabuse him of the notion that my authorly life is one of limos and luxury -- I drove myself to make the acceptance speech at last year's Sydney Taylor Award banquet in my food-bestrewn, dented Mom-Mobile. I think Jack was a bit disappointed that he wasn't going to be seeing stretch limos pulling up next door on a daily basis, but I'll admit to being glad that he hasn't given up on the idea that I'm famous. I figure if he thinks it, I might become it.
My daughter already has a horde of new friends who ring the doorbell wanting to know if she can come out to play, and my son has a devotee in young Chase next door. At 8 a.m. last Sunday, when I went out to get the paper in my PJ's, he asked me if Joshua wanted to play with him. I told Chase that Joshua was still asleep.
"Why?" my young neighbor asked, puzzled.
I gave a brief explanation of how becoming a teenager seems to change previously early risers (I used to call Joshua my "farm boy" because he was up with the sun) into late-sleeping lie-a beds. I'm not sure Chase was convinced, but I'm leaving more detailed explanations of puberty and hormones up to his parents. I've got enough "puberty talks" of my own to deal with, thank you very much!
We've been living in the house for almost two weeks now, and despite the fact that we don't have a living room sofa or my office furniture yet, it already feels like we belong there. I've unpacked my frighteningly large collection of books onto the new bookshelves, built by the wonderful Scott Heywood, who answered my frenzied plea to install shelves wherever he found a blank wall. Maybe it's the author and obsessive reader in me, but there's something about being surrounded by books that makes a house feel more like a home.
But it's the neighbors who've really made us feel like we belong here. The night of the closing, when we hadn't even moved in, we ended up with 10 kids and several moms gathered on our front steps, chatting. In the end, we called out for pizza (another of the joys of moving to Cos Cob -- food delivery, woo hoo!) and ate sitting on the flagstones on the back patio, our outdoor furniture being in storage with the rest of our belongings until we moved in the following week.
Since then we've been welcomed with beautiful plants and delicious homemade cookies. We've had several impromptu gatherings on the front steps and kids are running in and out of the house constantly. I love it. Living in backcountry didn't allow for this kind of informality, because seeing anyone involved getting in a car and driving.
Our dog, Sandy, loves it too. She sits on the front steps and watches the world -- particularly the other neighborhood dogs -- go by.
Now that I've got to get back into writing groove, I'm posting a "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door leading to my basement lair. But I like knowing that when I emerge, my friends are on the other side of the door.
