20 minutes a day

I used to get annoyed by my kids bringing home baggie books every.single.night.  Trying to find the time to sit and listen to four kids each read me a book was a lot. Sometimes, I'm not going to lie, I'd sign off on my  two older sons because they can read a 300 page book in a day- I was not worried about them.  Then, my third son came along.  It's been a journey getting him to love reading.

This year, I vowed to commit to sitting with him for 20 minutes a day while he reads to me.  I vowed that no matter what, I would listen to him read.  I make a point to stop what I'm doing and sit and listen, even if it means dinner will be served 20 minutes late.

Two weeks ago, my kids started bringing home book orders.  I've been less than thrilled with the selection Scholastic chooses to offer on their order forms (I do not particularly enjoy paying money for stories from cartoons or popular movies or ones about zombies) I decided to go to a local bookshop and purchase books for each of my kids instead.  I placed the books on a mantle in our kitchen and told them at the end of the week they could have the books if they did all their chores and homework without complaining.

The lady at the bookstore helped me choose the books.  I told her my 8 year old had trouble getting interested in a chapter book and she suggested The One and Only Ivan.  (I love shopping at a store where the employees really love and know the books).

In a nutshell, this book is about a gorilla named Ivan that was kept solitary in a glass case in a mall in Washington for 27 years.  I love how it is written from the perspective of the gorilla and how heartfelt it is.  We are only 40 or so pages in, but it is a great story so far and I look forward each day to my son reading to me.  Not only are we getting to spend one on one time together, but I can tell already his reading is getting better.

These 20 minutes a day will add up to 3600 by the time the school year is over.  I'm hoping for my son and I to enjoy many adventures through new and exciting books together this school year.  I love that I was able to find a book that is new to the two of us and is based on a true story.  I hope that it will deepen his appreciation for reading, as well as spark an interest in something greater in him.

I've never been a big animal lover, but this book is evoking some emotion, listening to the gorilla recount how many days it's been since he had a visitor, or how mistreated the animals were.  The chapters are short and the words aren't too big.  I believe it could be read and understood by kids as young as first grade, but even adults would enjoy reading it as well.  If I weren't waiting for my son to read it to me every night, I would probably go ahead and try to finish it on my own.

Listening to the story of the lonely gorilla trapped in his cage, makes me think of how fortunate I am to have a loving husband, five healthy kids, and a warm cozy home to live in.  I can't imagine being confined to a room for a day, let alone 9,000+ days.

Ivan doesn't have much contact with other animals or humans.  Makes me sad for him.  Makes me think of people who live alone or who have no friends or who are isolated.

“Is there anything sweeter than the touch of another as she pulls a dead bug from your fur?” - quote from Ivan in the book.  

Take 20 minutes a day to do something that may help someone who is lonely, or needs an extra boost.  In 20 minutes, you could drink a cup of coffee over a short conversation, you could listen to a small story, you could take a short walk, you could enjoy a short meal, you could spread some good cheer, you could provide someone with their only human contact for the whole day, you could make a phone call, or even handwrite a letter.

If you're a parent, take 20 minutes to spend undistracted with your child.  Make them feel special as you spend time with them without your phone, email, or text interrupting.  Look them in the eye when you have a conversation, rub their back, put your arm around them, give them some affirmation that they have your undivided attention and that they are special.

Take 20 minutes and help make someone else's day a little brighter.

36 Acts of Kindness

For my birthday, I did 36 Acts of Kindness.  Admittedly, once I announced I was going to do it, I started getting a little stressed out at how I would be able to do it.  I also kept coming up with ideas that cost a lot of money, and I didn't have a lot of money to spend.  As the day went on, things just presented themselves to me and it actually was very easy and fun.  I encourage you to do the same, even if you say you are going to do it in a week or a month.

I was originally inspired to do Acts of Kindness from Katherine Marie's Random Acts of Kindness Advent Calendar.  I was looking there for inspiration and somehow found myself here, which inspired me to celebrate my birthday this way.

Here's a recap of what Hazel and I did.

We even made t-shirts to wear that day:

I made small cards to attach to random things we left behind so people would know they were receiving an Act of Kindness.  These were inspired by some I found on pinterest, then while searching on google, I found the actual blog, and now that I want to link it, I can't find it.  Anyways, these were inspired by the others, but are my own design.

1) Gave away a copy of an awesome cookbook
2) Made homemade muffins for the teachers at the school
3) Bought coffee for the person that was next in line at the Starbucks drivethru
4) Left a box of coffee in the teacher's lounge at the school
5) Placed a $5 Starbucks gift card in a randomly chosen teacher's mailbox
6) Gave homemade whoopie pies to the single dad across the street
7) Brought homemade treats to the chiropractor and her secretary
8) Left kids magazine we were done using in the lobby at the chiropractor's
9) Left a small puzzle with a kindess tag on it on the table at the chiropractor's
10) Mailed a gift to someone in my family (no one in my family should be living without a muffin pan!)
11) Left a Hello Kitty pencil with a kindness tag on the table at the Post Office
12) Offered to help a man carry a large amount of packages into the Post Office
13) Left the tape I bought at the front desk of the Post Office for someone else that might need it
14) Bought a balloon and delivered it to a new girl in the neighborhood
15-17) Left 3 $1.00 bills around the Dollar Tree with Kindness tags on them

18) Let kids buy school lunch (a rare treat in our house)
19) Bought a balloon for Hazel's friend
20) I saw Jr. Mints at the register when checking out because I remembered my husband was craving them the other day
21) Took a friend out to lunch
22) Left a balloon tied to a bench with a kindness tag (I hope someone took it)

23) Gave the mailman a card and $20, something I forgot to do at Christmas
24) Left a bottle of homemade vanilla on a neighbor's porch
25) Left coupons that I wouldn't be using on the shelves next to the items at the store, for someone else to use
26) Gave a $5 starbucks card to the teacher that is always outside in the freezing cold helping with the carpool kids

27) Called my grandmother to say hi
28) Brought a batch of freshly baked cookies, some icing, and sprinkles to a neighbor for her son to decorate
29) Brought whoopie pies to gymnastics to share with the other moms in the waiting area
30-31) Taped $1 bill to the coke and water machine for someone that needed it to take it
32) Left a new travel sized pack of wipes in the diaper changing area in the bathroom at the park district
33) Donated money to the y annual fund
34) Dropped a bag of stuff at good will
35) Taped a smiley face sign in the bathroom at Barnes and Nobles

(I let Hazel help me with the smiles ( I thought some looked like frowns, but they really made me laugh in the end because they were so cute, and I knew if I was the mom that saw them hanging there, I would choose one of them)).

36) Let my teacher of my Lose your Mommy Tummy class know what a difference she is making in my life and how great she is

If you're looking for more ideas, I found this lens on squidoo, with 100 ideas.

Go ahead and try to do an act of kindness today- even a smile can make a difference in someone's day.

Cookbook Giveaway

GIVEAWAY CLOSED
Winner is: Corey - (expect that book next week!)  Since it was Addison's birthday, I let him draw out of a hat, so it was completely random.

And for my act of Kindness #1, I'm giving away a copy of a cookbook that I know you will love, Cook's Illustrated Cookbook!

WHAT!?  That's right, I'm giving it away on my own birthday, and I'm paying for it, it is not a sponsored give away.  I love their recipes so much, I want to share the book with someone else.

How to enter: (You can enter up to 2 times)

1) Leave a comment at the end of this post telling me what recipe you want to make but are afraid to try.

2) If you sign up to follow this blog, you can also leave a comment telling me you did so.

The winner has to be a US resident.

The deadline to enter is Thursday February 16, 2012.

Upcoming Random Acts of Kindness

I'm turning 36 next week- on Valentine's Day.

I don't feel like I'm going to be 36, at least not how I envisioned it to be so "old" when I was a kid.  I don't feel any different than when I was 19 actually. Well, for my birthday, I decided it would be a good time to start thinking about this month's Random Act of Kindness.

I sat down to do one quick thing on my computer tonight and the next thing, I spent an hour searching for Random Acts of Kindness ideas on pinterest and through google (OK fine more than an hour).

I've said it before how so many people make it a point to be extra giving at Christmas, but there are still needs all year long.  My New Year's Challenge was to do one random act of kindness per month.

In January, I was a bit nervous because I hadn't found something to do.  Then, we got snow, lots of snow- and my son and I shoveled my neighbor's entire driveway (7+ inches of snow) and walkway.  (Yes, the next morning when he got home, he opened the garage and there was his snowblower)- he was still appreciative.

I found a post of a woman's Random Acts of Kindess Advent calendar and at the bottom, she had links from people who had also followed her idea.  This led me to a woman who did 38 Random Acts of Kindness on her birthday.  This led me to decide to follow suit.

So, next week, on the day I turn 36, I will commit 36 Random Acts of Kindness.

I've already got several ideas in my head, but I can always use suggestions, so if you read this before my birthday and you think of something, leave a comment.  And, of course, feel free to do your own Random Act of Kindness on my birthday as well.

I'll post the completed acts on the day after.

Busy Moving Into MY NEW HOUSE!!!

I've been away for a while, mostly due to the fact that I've been moving, but partly because I have no internet at my new house (don't even get me started on that one).

Over the past seven months, since we found out we were moving home from Japan and decided to build a house to move into, my life has been kind of crazy, kind of.  If you follow my blog, you've read some of my posts along the way about moving, but here, in one post, I'd like to sum up the past eight months of my life.

First of all, I'd like to say THANK YOU to all of my family and friends who have helped me along the way, it would have been impossible without you.  It started in Japan, when we were packing up to leave, and I was seven months pregnant, countless friends helped me clean, pack, organize (probably thought I was being too particular, but now that I'm unpacking, that organization is paying off), helped with the kids, dishes, food, you name it.

Here is the first part of our move, the truck came to pick up 16 of our 19, yes, 19 suitcases.

We had to say good bye to some really great friends:

Here we are at the airport.

Phase two, unpacking, cleaning, organizing, settling in at my parent's house.  If it weren't for the help of my sister and my dad being home sick, I never would have gotten unpacked before this:

Four days before this beautiful girl arrived, my husband made his way back the the US, just one day before the big earthquake in northern Japan.  Fortunately, our friends were unaffected and our stuff was not at sea yet.

There were many decisions to be made for the house, so the kids and I drove 1,000 miles to stay with Dave for a month.  We got to stop and visit some old friends along the way, and I even took them to Niagara Falls:

Once again, it was time to pack up to get ready to move once again, this time to our new house.  For the past five years, my parents let us keep our stuff and car at their house, like our home away from home.  It was time to get all of my stuff out and let my parent's have their house back again.  I tried my hardest to get everything out. My dad even gave my two oldest sons the bunk beds we had when we were kids that he built himself- how cool is that?  We painted them red (because Mario's red of course).

We had to say goodbye to ALL of our cousins:

Conveniently, the weekend we moved my cousin was getting married in Ohio, so we made a pitstop.  This is when the kids had to say bye to Nana and Grampa.

This trip, we were driving with a 6x12 UHaul and I didn't want to travel alone, so my brother and nephew joined us.  I couldn't have done it without them!  They are my official moving buddies because they also came to Japan (with my sister-in-law too) for my last week and helped us move home, so I didn't have to lug all the suitcases and kids through customs 7.5 months pregnant alone.

We got to Illinois, and the house wasn't ready for closing, so we stayed in the tiny one bedroom apartment Dave had been renting since March.

My mom flew in to help us when our shipment arrived.  Luckily she's staying for two weeks.

The closing got delayed by two days, so we were all crammed into the tiny apartment on one king and one twin bed.

Finally, we closed on our house and are together again as one big happy family!  This was the first night in six months that I slept in a room without sharing it with four or five of my kids!  Home sweet home!

The following Monday, the stuff arrived, in not one, but two trucks!!! Here they are driving down the street, I was so excited I had butterflies in my stomach!

Holy cow, this is a LOT of stuff:

This is what my basement and closet look like now:

You'll be hearing from me slowly for the next few weeks as I attempt to become box free ;)

So, if you know someone moving, may I challenge you to do a random act of kindness for them, whether it be help pack, help clean post packing, make them a meal, clean the new place, help unpack, take the kids, bring over a snack, cut open boxes, help break down boxes- do you get the point?  I have had so much help, and I couldn't have done it without every last one of my wonderful family and friends, so thank you for everything that helped to get us here, we love you!

Busy Creating, Giving, and Learning: Paper Cranes

While packing up my stuff at my parent's house, I came across this:

I made it after Maeve was born.  If you keep up with this blog, I had mentioned in a post a while ago, after the earthquake in Northern Japan, that I wanted to make paper cranes with my kids.  I bought the book, Sadako and the 1,000 Paper Cranes, and we read it together each day at lunch.

In the back of the book were instructions how to fold a paper crane.  I sat down one day, and made each step and mounted it to a piece of white poster board to help the kids visualize the steps easier.  There are many tutorials on the web, some better than others, I tried a few unsuccessfully, but the ones in the book were easy to follow.

Here's a close up of the pieces, I just don't have the time right now to do a step by step, but you can get the general idea.  Unfortunately, since I just love colors, my origami paper was a rainbow pack, so each piece could not be the same color, but I tried to go in color family order:

My plan is that once I'm in my new house, I will hang this on the wall and have the kids help me fill a box full of paper cranes to send to Northern Japan.  I plan to attach messages to them too.

This is a great way to teach the kids fine motor skills, creativity, patience, and giving.  This is a skill that all children in japanese schools learn.  When visiting historical places in Japan, or attending festivals, we encountered many groups of school kids wanting to practice their English on us.  In exchange for the conversation, even a simple "Hello", we would be given an origami as a thank you.  Oftentimes, the kids' backpacks were full of origami creations!

The cranes are a symbol of peace and hope.  The first time one of our visitors went to Hiroshima, the site of the first atomic bombing in Japan by the US, he came back with a backpack FULL of paper cranes!  I never made it to Hiroshima, but here are some pictures Dave took on a trip there- there are just cases and cases of them:

Here are some pictures of paper cranes I took in Nagasaki, the site of the second bombing.  It is incredible how many there are.  I don't know how to make the chain, but it is beautiful to see.

Even at the airport on our trip home when moving, the woman at the check in counter saw that it was Addison's birthday and the next thing you know, they had made him all these origami stars and smiley faces for a present, it was amazing.

I am planning on making a mobile of pink, green, and red paper cranes for Maeve's room, I think she will really enjoy looking at them, don't you?  As soon as I find my origami paper, I'm going to start it.  I think it will be nice for her to have in her room a small part of Japan, since she never got to live there.  Pictures to follow when it's done.

We have in our shipment many more books of origami that we purchased while living in Japan.  I hope to put up more pictures of fun things my kids and I make together.  Maybe we will carry on the tradition of giving origami to strangers we meet to brighten their days.

When Disaster Strikes

On Friday, March 11, there was a major earthquake in northern Japan.  Exactly three weeks prior, my four children and I relocated back to the US.  Exactly two days prior, my husband did the same.  I have received a lot of calls and emails from family and friends, as well as my family receiving calls from their friends and coworkers too,  to ensure my family's safety.  First of all, I would like to thank everyone for thinking of me and caring enough to check.  I lived in the city of Kobe, which was over 600 miles from where the earthquake struck, so it was not affected.  I know a few of my husband's former coworkers saw projectors shake and some of my neighbor's children had to hide under their desks at school.

I remember when I first moved to Japan, my son hid between two buildings and my husband freaked out that if there were an earthquake, he could be sandwiched between the buildings- that's when I had to really become aware that the potential for that type of disaster was there every second of the day.  But, no matter how much you are aware, you can never truly be prepared for what this disaster can bring with it.  Sitting in my parent's house, watching the events unfold on the news, I realized I had no true sense of how bad it could really be.  I don't think anyone truly does until it happens to them.

I am very relieved to be safe at home, yet my heart is aching for the people of Japan and all my friends and neighbors I left behind.  Even though we were so far away from the devastated area, if nuclear problems amount to something, you just never know.  There are talks of rolling blackouts throughout major cities to redirect power to the north and hoarding at grocery stores and gas stations.  I have even heard of some countries that are trying to remove their citizens from Japan until the nuclear threat is under control.  I know my husband's company is doing a great job of keeping its employees and their families informed.   Even though I know if I were there, they are not allowing civilians to go up to the affected areas to help, it's hard to know I won't be there when that might be a possibility.  That country was my home for the past 4.5 years and I grew to have the highest regard for the Japanese people.

Yesterday, I mentioned that I was going to post about ways to help Japan. I have come up with a few, most of them you probably already know, but in the case that I reach one person that didn't, I helped Japan a little more.

1) Donate money to the Red Cross.  I have been looking around online and honestly, am not a fan of donating to big organizations.  I always wonder is my money going to pay for administrative fees or will it help.  They actually have a blog, and I read about their initial response and then I read ALL of the comments to their post.  A lot of people are hesitant to donate because it is Japan relief and Pacific Tsunami fund.  Most of us are feeling like the Pacific Tsunami wasn't a big deal at all and all the money should be sent directly to Japan.  Only a small amount will be sent to the Pacific, and the Red Cross did send 10 million dollars upfront, not to mention, they have store houses of supplies around the world, which they are releasing a lot of these supplies to the people of Japan.  I think at this point, given the fact that we are so far away, and dealing with a different currency, this organization might be the best and easiest choice as far as an organization to donate to.  (I am looking for places in Japan that will accept foreign currency donations and I know are in direct need).

2) Donate to one of the organizations on this link, I read this article on CNN that warned of fake organizations, especially ones that show up as soon as a disaster has occurred, those people should certainly be ashamed of themselves.

3) Donate old clothes/shoes to Salvation Army. They might reach Japan.  They are currently NOT looking for direct clothes, food, water donations because the shipping cost to Japan is so high and in the affected areas, postal service is actually stopped.

4) If you have a friend, classmate, coworker or neighbor that is Japanese, has family in the affected areas, or is a former expat from Japan, do something nice for them.  Initiate a Random Act of Kindness.  In many cases, if a person is here away from their family in Japan, it is too expensive for them to go back right now, not safe for them to go back, or just plain not possible.  Imagine how it must feel to be here not knowing or feeling helpless.

5) Encourage your children to donate some money from their piggy banks, let them help you choose which organization to donate to.  Have a bake sale or car wash to raise money, teach your children about  giving.  I plan on making cupcakes with my kids and putting a pick with a Japanese flag on top and selling them at our local grocery store, after the baby of course.

6) If you know someone with family or friends in the affected areas, ask how they need help, maybe you can directly send them money.  I plan to ask a friend of mine whose husband's parents house was destroyed if I can send her money to help them and their neighbors fix up their house.

7) Make paper cranes.  I went to Nagasaki while living in Japan, and many of my visitors went to Hiroshima and there are millions of paper cranes hanging there.  There was a story about the 1000 paper cranes, when a girl was ill after the atomic bomb and the cranes are a symbol of peace.  I say make the cranes to symbolize a wish for peace for the Japanese people affected by this earthquake.  I have been in numerous places in Japan, when my children were handed paper cranes from Japanese school children, it is a small gesture to show we wish the best for you.  I looked online and found out there is even symbolism in the colors:  green is for healing, harmony, and finding balance; white is for hope, a fresh start, and innocence; and tea (light brown) represents remembering and fond memories.  Of course, you can make any color crane you want but these colors would represent wishes we have for the Japanese people now.  I plan on posting a tutorial when I get out of the hospital.  For now, here is a link to a video.

8) Be positive.  This week, I noticed on the news and then online forums, there are just rotten totally negative people out there who have nothing better to do with their time than criticize a country that has had a national disaster.  No one deserves to be in that situation, not to be punished for how they built something or what their ancestors did in wars past.  If someone is being rude, mainly it's to draw attention to themselves, walk away, change the channel, or just plain set them straight.

9) Accept things as they are.  It is frustrating to be far away and not be able to help.  Let this be a time for you to initiate some type of volunteer effort near your home where there is a need for your presence.  Also, accept the fact that every where in the world poses some type of threat from natural disaster and DO NOT criticize the Japanese people for living in the ring of fire or close the the sea.  I have lived in many places, each one posing their own potential threat (northeast US- hurricanes, southeast US- hurricanes, snow disaster due to ill preparedness, midwest US- tornadoes, in fact, I am currently building a house in tornado alley).  Japan- earthquakes, I didn't even have a disaster relief kit and didn't even have the emergency numbers posted in my house.  I didn't have an "it can't happen to me attitude", just a "it won't be that bad if it does happen".  People all over the world live near nuclear facilities and use their power, after the tsunami in the Indian Ocean, people are still vacationing in Thailand and Indonesia, people still live in New Orleans after the hurricane disaster, and people are still living all around the bases of volcanoes world wide.  So, please, if you can do nothing else, do not criticize, but accept the fact that no matter what, we can not completely protect ourselves from natural disaster and that when disaster strikes, people need to be helped, not criticized.

Random Acts of Kindness

I wasn't sure whether or not I was going to reveal a secret club my kids and I had started.  In light of recent events in Japan, I have decided to reveal what we've been doing- we've been acting as the Shioya Random Act of Kindness Club.  I feel like maybe this will be an inspiration to others to start doing the same thing.

The Shioya Random Act of Kindness Club was something I had on my mind for a very long time, but took forever to implement.  Basically, I just wrote a nice note, with a small gift and left it randomly at a neighbor's house.  This past Christmas, I was inspired by this blog of a photographer named Katherine Marie.  For Advent, she had her kids do a random act of kindness a day, something I plan to do next year. Then, in January, she implemented 52 weeks of Kindness and provided links to some more inspiration, this one I really liked, Secret Agent L.  I finally decided to start my own Random Acts of Kindness Club.  I feel like it is teaching my kids a valuable lesson about doing nice things for others when they least expect it.

Disappointed by the fact that he did not get a golden ipod for Christmas, my oldest son asked me if I thought Cupid would bring it for Valentine's Day or the Easter Bunny for Easter.  I began to realize the expectations he has grown to have for the holidays.  I wanted him to have a better sense of the feeling of giving and not just receiving and that a holiday wasn't necessary for giving.  I noticed myself that it is always around Christmas that we send packages to homeless families and give more money to Salvation Army.  The other time we really give is when a tragedy strikes, such as the recent earthquake in northern Japan.  Why do we wait until such times to give or let someone know that we care.  I wanted to let my children know the excitement that comes with truly surprising someone with a random gift or uplifiting someone when they least expect it and mostly that people need things at times other than just holidays.

Living far from home, it didn't take much to think of ideas for my neighbors.  Each one received a special note and gift- I found some inspiration for the notes from these sites, kindness quotes, friendship quotes, motherhood quotes, and smile quotes.

First, was the neighbor who was home alone with three kids while her husband was away on business:

Then, there was a neighbor whose husband was working very late A LOT and had a particularly bad morning with her kids:

A neighbor who is always so cheery, and had recently been feeling sick:

A few neighbors who had recently moved in:

A neighbor celebrating yet another birthday far from family:

A neighbor who had recently got some news about someone's health in her family, always hard to hear, especially when you are so far away:

There are the neighbors who have lived away from their home countries for so long, but still get pangs of homesickness and forget about the special treats stores sell around the holidays.  There are neighbors, who like myself, are getting ready to move and sad to say goodbye.  Neighbors whose kids are in college, neighbors who seem completely wonderful with no care in the world, neighbors who learned English in Japan, so they could communicate with us.  The bottom line is, there is always someone somewhere no matter what that can use a nice note and a good smile.

With the tragedy that is upon Japan right now, I am more encouraged than ever to keep delivering "random" notes and smiles to people.  While a holiday gives us a perfect reason and forces us to let people know we care, I challenge you to try it on a non-event day. Even if you can only do it once a year, once a month, or once a week, you can send a card, an email to someone you lost contact with, make a call, give a gift card to a completely random stranger.  You don't want to miss the chance to tell someone you care, that they are special, or that you love them.  Take the time to notice someone today.

In the past few days, many people have been asking me how to help the people in Japan that are suffering right now, and that is something I am trying to figure out.  I have a few ideas and will be posting more on that in the next few days (may be a slight delay due to the arrival of a new baby), but I can say they are more than deserving of whatever act of kindness we can send their way.  Stay tuned.

A favorite quote I've come across in doing this:

"Today, give a stranger one of your smiles.  It might be the only sunshine he sees all day."  ~Quoted in P.S. I Love You, compiled by H. Jackson Brown, Jr