My main goal over the next few weeks will be to share what we are doing here on the blog and to build a resource here that other families (and my own) can go to when we need ideas from week to week. \u00a0I will be diving into the world of web research and creating pages here of links to kindness ideas, local service organizations and other information about doing service projects with children. \u00a0If you’re participating along with us and need an idea, hopefully this will serve as a resource to help get through the weeks that feel harder than others.<\/p>\n
Like I said in the last post – sometimes it’s not as much a matter of time or funding – it’s just knowing what needs are out there.<\/p>\n
A Little Bit of Structure:<\/strong><\/p>\n I have been brainstorming structure over the past few weeks. \u00a0As I talk it over with my husband he keeps reminding me that we don’t have to have the whole year planned ahead of time. \u00a0Flexibility is a good thing because as we learn what needs and opportunities are there we will be able to go with the flow. \u00a0He is much less “type A” than I am… lol… but I think he’s got a point. \u00a0I can be one that over-plans to the point of never starting because the plan isn’t quite “perfect” yet. \u00a0It’s important to just get started!<\/p>\n However, I do realize that there are others like me out there who, in doing a project, like to have at least a little bit of structure in order to set goals and maintain motivation.<\/p>\n My thought is that each of us will probably structure our projects a little bit differently depending on the goals of our own family. \u00a0But I thought I would throw out a few ideas in case you wanted to adopt one and make it your own.<\/p>\n One flexible approach would be a week-by-week approach where you designate each of the four weeks of the month for a particular type of “kindness” or service. \u00a0I am considering this approach for my own family to help us stay organized. \u00a0My thought is:<\/p>\n One Organized Service Project<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/em><\/strong>One Intentional Act of Kindness for someone in our House<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/em><\/strong>One Intentional Act of Kindness for someone outside of our home<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/em><\/strong>One Random Act of Kindness<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n This would have us ending the year having participated in 12 organized service projects, 12 random acts of kindness and 24 intentional acts of kindness for people we know or care about (and… well… a few months have extra weeks in them so we’d have to come up with 4 more “projects”). \u00a0This seems completely do-able to me in a way that would not overwhelm the kids and have them feeling like it was a chore. \u00a0The big challenge in this will be to find a balance between completing our goals and making sure the kids are enjoying it and getting out of the project what we hope they will.<\/p>\n Another thought was that if someone out there wants to participate but does not have children you could make a goal to focus on a different service organization or kindness project in your community each week. \u00a0This would be an incredible learning experience and would greatly help in getting the word out to the rest of the community about the needs and opportunities available. \u00a0It’s like being a photojournalist on the kindness beat! \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n \n<\/div>\n \n do you have another idea? \u00a0If you have another idea for how to approach this year-long project please let me know. \u00a0I’ll add it to this list so that others might follow along with you. \u00a0If you come up with your own list for monthly themes share it too! \u00a0Ultimately, there is no right or wrong. \u00a0Just get out there and spread the joy that is in your power to spread. \u00a0Teach the kids in your life that they can change the world. \u00a0And share your ideas to make it easy for other families to do the same!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n WEEK 1: \u00a0Assignment<\/strong><\/p>\n So I’ve thought long and hard about what the “right” assignment would be for week one.<\/p>\n But remember… there is no RIGHT or WRONG… except maybe thinking too long and doing too little.<\/p>\n So for week one just get out there and DO!<\/p>\n So the assignment I’m giving my family is 2-fold (and remember… you can give your own family a different assignment).<\/p>\n I’m defining a Random Act of Kindness as a small surprise for someone we don’t know and won’t choose. \u00a0It’s something left for a stranger to stumble on or something done for someone where we don’t necessarily have complete control over who the beneficiary will be. \u00a0These are things like paying for the car behind you in the drive through line or leaving a bouquet of flowers on someone’s car (a very fun RAK that was featured recently in the Reston Patch). \u00a0We just spent a whole month showering those we love with kindness and being showered in return. \u00a0Now it’s time to pay it forward.<\/p>\n POSTING:<\/strong><\/p>\n So I am designating Mondays as my posting day for this project. \u00a0Since 2013 started on a Tuesday then Monday is the last day of each week. \u00a0This will finish our project on Dec 30 and leave Dec. 31 completely free for New Year’s celebrations. \u00a0This will also give us weekends to do projects as a family when we need a little extra time and start our week off with a bit of inspiration. \u00a0Here are the dates for the entire year for those that will be making calendars along with us: \u00a0If you email me your links from week to week I will post links to all of your projects at the bottom of my post as well so anyone following along can see all the great ideas being generated. \u00a0Getting them to me Sunday night would be great and I’ll get the post out by the end of the day on Monday. \u00a0I should note that the goal of my posting will be to spread ideas and information about the various projects. \u00a0I will be probably be taking many more pictures for my own family album. \u00a0But I will try to give as much how-to and behind-the-scenes info as possible with the single photo I feature each Monday. \u00a0Here is the year of Mondays.<\/p>\n 1: Jan 7 What Else do You Need?<\/strong><\/p>\n So the final question I have is what else do you need in terms of support to get this project going for your family? \u00a0Let me know if there’s anything you need from me – more detailed prompts? Photo assignments? \u00a0What would make this easier for you as a parent?<\/p>\n Please don’t hesitate to ask. \u00a0I want to be here to support anyone and everyone who wants to do this project along with us. \u00a0I will work hard this week on starting those resource pages here on the blog. As you come across your own ideas or find resources on the web please let me know and I’ll add them. \u00a0I’ll share what works for us (and what doesn’t – often just as important!). \u00a0I will do whatever I can from here behind my computer to facilitate spreading the smiles! \u00a0Just let me know.<\/p>\n AND!<\/p>\n PLEASE let me know if you’re participating too! \u00a0I would love to know who else out there is following along. \u00a0Send me an email – or leave a comment here. \u00a0Hope to see you throughout 2013 working together to spread smiles!<\/p>\n And because I don’t want to have 2 posts in a row without a photo I dug this one from my 2012 archives because it’s an example of a beautiful act-of-kindness we stumbled on in Washington DC. \u00a0Someone had painted this rock and placed it amidst the grasses in a flower bed along Constitution Avenue. \u00a0It greatly brightened our day when we discovered it while walking back to our car after an event on the mall.<\/p>\n So it is now officially 2013! We’re really excited to get started with our Project 52: Focus on Kindness. I have so many ideas swirling around in my head that I’m not quite sure how to start except to just start! I suspect that the next few weeks will be an exciting time of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[521,511],"tags":[518,515,512,401,517],"class_list":["post-4412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-focus-on-kindness-2","category-kindness-with-kids","tag-kindness-project","tag-kindness-with-kids-2","tag-project-52","tag-random-acts-of-kindness","tag-service"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/catinaanderson.com\/photography\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4412","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/catinaanderson.com\/photography\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/catinaanderson.com\/photography\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/catinaanderson.com\/photography\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/catinaanderson.com\/photography\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4412"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"http:\/\/catinaanderson.com\/photography\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4412\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4521,"href":"http:\/\/catinaanderson.com\/photography\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4412\/revisions\/4521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/catinaanderson.com\/photography\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/catinaanderson.com\/photography\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/catinaanderson.com\/photography\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
A Week-by-Week Approach<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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A Focus on Kindness Project that Focuses on the Kindness of Others<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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The monthly theme approach<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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The Single Service Approach<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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The DIY approach<\/h3>\n
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\n2: Jan 14
\n3: Jan 21
\n4: Jan 28
\n5: Feb 4
\n6: Feb 11
\n7: Feb 18
\n8: Feb 25
\n9: Mar 4
\n10: Mar 11
\n11: Mar 18
\n12: Mar 25
\n13: April 1
\n14: April 8
\n15: April 15
\n16: April 22
\n17: April 29
\n18: May 6
\n19: May 13
\n20: May 20
\n21: May 27
\n22: June 3
\n23: June 10
\n24: June 17
\n25: June 24
\n26: July 1
\n27: July 8
\n28: July 15
\n29: July 22
\n30: July 29
\n31: Aug 5
\n32: Aug 12
\n33: Aug 19
\n34: Aug 26
\n35: Sept 2
\n36: Sept 9
\n37: Sept 16
\n38: Sept 23
\n39: Sept 30
\n40: Oct 7
\n41: Oct 14
\n42: Oct 21
\n43: Oct 28
\n44: Nov 4
\n45: Nov 11
\n46: Nov 18
\n47: Nov 25
\n48: Dec 2
\n49: Dec 9
\n50: Dec 16
\n51: Dec 23
\n52: Dec 30<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/catinaanderson.com\/photography\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/IMG_1927.jpg\" "\\"IMG_1927\\"")
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"