Advent Service Weekend

As Christmas draws closer, kids can begin to get anxious about what they’re going to get. It’s not that they are selfish, it’s just that it’s a big event coming soon and they know there will be presents for them. Advent Service Weekend was my way of keeping the focus on others for as long as possible.

The List

1. Make a card for a soldier at Walter Reed Medical Center.
2. Clean your room
3. Wrap some presents.
4. Help Dad with one chore.
5. Help Mom clean up the basement.
6. Send a card to a little child in need.
7. Do homework with a positive attitude.
8. Brush Max (outside).
9. Call a grandparent.
10. Help clean out the car.

Lots of these were practical.  Our basement playroom probably needed a good cleaning before the cousins came for Christmas. The boys’ rooms and the car (which becomes an extension of the boys’ rooms) can almost always use a good cleaning!

Some are acts of kindness to make someone else’s holiday season brighter.  Calling a grandparent or writing a card to a child in the hospital are simple, easy gestures that can make someone’s day brighter.

Any little thing you can do during the holidays to remind kids to think of others is a step in the right direction. After all, Santa’s watching!