One year a neighbor did the 12 days of Christmas for our family. My children were so excited every night when the doorbell rang, they would race to the door to try and catch the “culprits”. It was such a fun experience and really made Christmas magical that year. It was what happened next year that was unexpected. My children decided that they wanted to do the same thing for someone else. My kids thought it was the best thing and enjoyed the shopping, wrapping, and delivering the gifts. The best part of the whole experience was not getting caught each night. It became a tradition in our home.
Then one year my youngest, who was thirteen years old said, “Mom can’t we do this every day in December?” It was our last Christmas with all our children still at home, so we decided to see if we could make it work. We researched, looked at our calendar and found 25 acts of kindness that fit our personality, budget, and our schedules. It became a year we would all remember.
My kids had some great experiences, one of the best was paying for someone else’s meal at our favorite restaurant. They also loved taping quarters to candy machines, and leaving popcorn and candy canes at Red Box Machines. Another favorite activity was going to the dollar store and hiding dollar bills throughout the store. They were so excited each day to go out on our adventure and help people. The best one for me was helping the older lady who lives down the street. We heard that she was really worried about all the pinecones and needles under her tree. My family took an afternoon and raked up all the pinecones and left nine large bags out for the garbage truck. For months she was trying to figure out who did it, but we didn’t tell anyone. The only clue anyone had was that they saw a white van out front. Luckily for us there are a lot of white vans in our neighborhood. She was relentless, though and kept up the search. Finally, she broke one of the kids, they conveyed to her that we had done the work. She invited my family over and we had such an enjoyable night playing games with her and eating pizza. My kids were so happy to serve, and they were blessed tremendously with a new friend. One that they treasured and were able to serve many more times until she passed away.
When my youngest entered High School, she decided to include her friends in this endeavor. She made her own calendar with some of these same activities and a few others and sent it to her friends. She invited them to come with her every day after school to do these service activities. It was great for the first two years when her friends still weren’t driving, then when the teenager’s got jobs, they quit coming. She quickly evolved it more into activities that her youth group would help her with at times, but most of the time it was just her blessing other people’s lives. I have been so impressed with her desire and willingness to do service for others at this time of year, even when her friends couldn’t join her any longer. It has been so important for her to help others enjoy this time of season. I’m grateful for a daughter who is trying to light other people’s lives. She is such a great example to me. Let’s serve!
Here is a list of 25 activities that we did to bring the Christmas spirit into our lives:
December 1
Leave popcorn and candy canes at a Red Box
December 2
Deliver some treat to a neighbor or someone special
December 3
Buy toys for “Toys 4 Tots”
December 4
pay for someone’s library fines
December 5
tape quarters to candy machines
December 6
Buy a book for the teachers at the book fair
December 7
Pick up pinecones (shovel snow)
December 8
Be a bell ringer
December 9
Go to a nursing home and give out treats
December 10
Take canned goods to the food bank
December 11
Leave a small gift in a shopping cart for someone to find
December 12
Leave something for the newspaper boy (or amazon, fedex, UPS driver)
December 13
Take a present to the lady at the cross walk
December 14
Go out to eat and pay for someone’s meal
December 15
Tape candy canes to ATM machines around town
December 16
Hide dollars around the dollar store
December 17
Leave a present for the mailman
December 18
Leave a holiday book at the mall by the play area or bell ringers
December 19
Do something for a teacher at school or church
December 20
Take hot cocoa and bread to music teacher
December 21
Go shopping and leave money for the person behind you
December 22
Leave a basket of Christmas gifts on doorstep of a family that needs it
December 23
Take stuff to “make a Christmas dinner” to someone in need
December 24
Invite neighbors over for scones and hot chocolate.
December 25
Remember the true meaning of Christmas!
With each item we left we included a note so others would know this was for them.
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