It's finally November, so we are getting into the wild busyness of the holiday season. As much as I enjoy thinking about good food and gifts, it's even more wonderful for me to take some time each October and November to plan new ways for me to give my daughter the opportunity to contribute to the people and places around her. As a mother to an only child, it feels even more important to me for my daughter to learn how to think of others, so we have been doing kindness projects since she was around 2 years old. I have a list of things that are relatively easy to complete. Although I eventually aspire to completing one a day, we don't normally have time, but I do like to spread out several activities over a week for the entire months of November and December. The List (with links to organizations in the Kansas City area)I have included a list of kid-friendly kindness activities, including links to organizations that are local to the Kansas City metro area. There is a free printable list at the bottom of this post.
Bonus Ideas
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We've had a full week in my household, so I thought that it was a good time to slow down and assess where we put our energy. Based on the posts I've seen popping up all over my social media feed, it seems like my family hasn't been the only one that needs this space. For that reason, I changed my originally scheduled post to one about self-care.
It seems like the idea of self-care is everywhere; it's such a buzzword now that it may seem like it's just a trend. But I think that we need to let ourselves go deeper. We need to find time for us to connect with ourselves, with the person we are outside of the parent, or the educational guide, or the person getting the money that supports our lives. At its essence, self-care is about making sure we nourish ourselves too. I know that this isn't always easy, and we all have a million-and-three excellent reasons why we can't do it right now. I get it. Truly, I get it (I am a founding member of the excuses club). I also know that without taking the time to feed ourselves (sometimes literally), we can't feed others. We just can't. There isn't anything there to give. One of the most helpful resources I have found happens to be an organization from the UK called Blurt that focuses on de-stigmatizing depression. Even if you aren't depressed, taking the time to work on self-care rituals can help you live your life in a more meaningful way. Blurt offers a lot of free resources, including several podcast episodes (so, so good) and a mental health toolkit. Many of the practices in the mental health toolkit can be useful for all of us, so I want to focus on some highlights with links back to the full pages.
Habits
This past year, I have been working on my own habits, so I know just how powerful this one is. It's hard to make constant decisions all day; creating good habits makes it much easier to practice healthy behaviors because we are no longer spending the mental energy on making those decisions. We are just running the script. Blurt focuses on simple habits and actionable steps that can make an enormous impact, including the following:
Self-Compassion
Although I love helping other people, I find it hard to turn that kindness toward myself sometimes. Listening to Dr. Kristen Neff on the podcast was helpful and opened me up to new perspectives. Her comments about breaking down our own resistance to showing ourselves kindness helped me, and I think that they would be helpful for others as well. Dr. Neff's self-compassion website is also filled with free resources. So much good stuff here, including her TEDx Talk, meditations, and published books.
Blurt Self-Care Guide
I adore this short guide (pdf), and I think that it is an incredible bite-size resource covering all of the basics. My favorite piece is the "Self-Care Alphabet" filled with helpful practices. Here is a taste:
I know that this has been long, but it's a topic that I am passionate about, especially for other homeschooling mamas. It's hard being a parent, and it can be lonely. We need to dig deep and find time for ourselves too. Let me know in the comments if you have any questions or ideas. Thanks, as always, for reading.
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I'm Heidi, the lead teacher for Stone Bridge Academy. We are a homeschool serving one fabulous student. This blog occasionally uses affiliate links, which means that we will earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. I only link to products or services that we use and love in my family. These commissions allow me to continue providing helpful content here. Thank you for your support.
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