It's Kids' Week!

You might have guessed that this week would involve making this world a better place by focusing on children since two blogs have previously been dedicated to mothers/women and fathers/men. The great thing about children is that we have the potential to make a difference that carries well into the future.

Focusing on children should not be so much about things as imparting value. This can be done through education, experience or time. Following are some ideas to give you a great start:

Education

• Show a child how to recycle by looking at the triangle stamped on plastics, and then place the item in the appropriate receptacle
• Instead of squishing insects that come in your house (yes, even the non-poisonous spiders). show a child how to capture the unwanted visitor and release it outside
• Teach a child the value of hard work by hiring them to do a service such as picking up sticks in the neighbor's yard, or making something to sell like having a lemonade stand
• Take the child to the library and show them how to check out books (or how books are categorized with the Dewey Decimal System or other classification)
• Visit a zoo or local pet store to explain how to care for animals
• Help a child learn to swim, ride a bike, tell time, etc.

Experiences 

• Take a child on a hike to commune with nature
• Camp out in your backyard or in the woods
• Accompany a child to the pool, amusement park, on a train ride, etc., or buy a ticket for such events. Even better, buy the ticket to donate to a child in need
• Go to a botanical garden or to a garden center to discover the different type of plants and discuss where to plant them. You might even explain what positive benefits they may offer (such as aloe plants, herbs, butterfly bushes, etc.)
• Take them to visit people in a nursing facility

Time (This may be the best way to teach value to a child)

• Play a game of the child's choosing
• Let them tell you a story
• Make something together (I.e. cookies, a birdhouse, bag with gifts to give someone in need) 
• Watch a movie or read a book together
• Encourage a child in whatever constructive activity they are doing (sports, drawing, cooking, writing, etc.)

While these are just a few ideas, try to think of many more and do something for and with kids as much as you can  this week. You are the introduction to the world for children who are important in your life, and maybe even some you don't know. They will learn life's basic lessons from you such as honesty, integrity, hope, perseverance, humility, reliability, and value by your example.  What they become does impact making this world a better place.

A few of Vicki's Journal entries this week: Shared a sack of tangerines with neighbor, sent praise to the corporate office for a store employee, and shared a movie and treat with some family members while they waited for power to be restored at their home after a storm.