Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Random Acts of Christmas Round-up


Picking up where we left off...

Random Act of Christmas #7: I overheard a woman in the library ask the librarian for headphones to listen to a movie.  The librarian told her that was something patrons had to provide themselves -- the women was a bit put out by this reply.  I was with the kids, so naturally, I also had the diaper bag and wondered if somewhere in its many pockets there was a random set of earbuds from one of our MANY overseas flights this year.  I found the yellow plastic packet at the bottom of the last pocket, still tightly wound and sealed.  I fished it out and gave it to the woman, I hope she enjoyed the movie.
  
Random Act of Christmas #8: While walking down the sidewalk in Georgetown during rush hour on a particularly windy day, I saw a bag of garbage float right into the middle of traffic.  The next vehicle, an enormous white pick-up truck, screeched to a stop to avoid hitting the bag.  I looked at the driver and he and at me and then I retrieved the bag and stuffed it firmly into an empty receptacle.  He smiled, rolled down his window and tossed a "thank you" my way before continuing on.

Random Act of Christmas #9: We took dinner to a neighbor.  So, it was just some soup, but it was Kenny's homemade chicken and vegetable, one of our family favorites!

Random Act of Christmas #10:  Caleb's school is an inner-city charter school.  Most of the students come from homes where each month is a struggle to make ends meet.  Very few of the parents do not work and as such, his class does not get a lot of support from home.  One of the teachers was absent the last week of school so she could spend some extra time with her family in El Salvador.  I knew the other teacher would have her hands full, so I volunteered to go in one morning and do a Christmas craft with the kids.  We decorated pre-fabbed foam ornaments with stickers (no glue!!) and then decorated Gingerbread cookies I'd made the night before.  For many of these kids, it was the first time they had ever decorated cookies.

Random Act of Christmas #11:  While at Caleb's school I noticed that the kids were sharing cups.  I asked the teacher why and she said they'd run out of paper cups that week.  The school doesn't provide paper cups for the students, but there are drinking fountains.  However, with a class of twenty-three 4 and 5 year-olds, running to the drinking fountain every time someone is thirsty is not a realistic option.  So, when I went to Costco later that day and picked up 2 packages of 500 cups and delivered them to the class the next day.  Hopefully, that will keep the germ-sharing to a minimum for a couple of months or so.

Random Act of Christmas #12: We babysat for a friend.  This was more selfish than anything.  Our kids love their kids and were so thrilled to have them come over.  The 4 of them played and laughed and jumped and ran non-stop for hours.  They had so much fun, in fact, that we asked to babysit them again just a few days later.  

Random Act of Christmas #13: Everywhere we have gone this month, shopping, the grocery store, the gas station, the post office, etc. we have let rushed and impatient people go ahead of us.  It puts us a few minutes behind our own schedule, but the looks on their faces makes the gesture totally worth it.  People are stunned that anyone would do something like that.  Their demeanor instantly changes and it feels good to know you've given someone a moment of calm in an otherwise hectic day.

Obviously, our list is not yet complete.  Only 5 days until Christmas and 12 Random Acts to go, will we do it?  Come back soon to find out.   

6 comments:

Jana and BJ said...

I love it! Thanks for sharing!

Anonymous said...

Feel free to count this as one of your acts of service, but I was feeling pretty low today mainly because I am terribly sick and reading this cheered me right up! (Though sadly, it did not eradicate this viral infection...can you work on that for next time? :) )

Julie said...

Wow. I am pretty sure blessings are going to start overflowing at your house. Merry Christmas!

calibosmom said...

Thanks for giving me the warm fuzzies this morning! I'll be sure to pass them on.

Robin said...

Thanks for all the great ideas. This is such a good thing to do. I bet you have a wonderful Christmas.

Bfiles said...

these are so sweet.

 

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