I was talking to a friend and she was telling me about a craft she did with her daughter.  She was telling me how hard it was for her to find bangles.  I thought wow what a cute idea.  I had a tons of bangles, so I went on line to find a design.  I found a pattern online and am so proud to say that it only took me about half an hour to make this little purse.  I had fun and the results were better than I expected.

I havn’t had too much time to work on my crafts and it felt so nice to be able to do a craft and complete and be able to give it away right away.  I was so proud of myself.

Andrew has a party to go to tomorrow so I made one for him to give too.  Being such an easy craft, I thought it would be really nice for him to help me make it.  He help sew the sides on the sewing machine and help stitch the bangles on too.

Kyle felt for this guy so he took and extra $40 and gave it to him while he was still talking to his boss trying to figure out what to do.  He took the money absent-mindedly and when he realized what he was doing, he didn’t really want the money from Kyle.  Kyle told him to use it for his daughter and then insisted that he get Kyle’s contact info so that he could repay him.  I think Kyle really  made his day.  I think it was nice that Kyle was able to help someone and I am really proud of him with his random act of kindness. Perhaps at some point in the strangers life, he is able to help someone too!

While we were shopping, Matthew decided that he really wanted a stuff animal and took it to the checkout.  When it was time to pay, I had to explain to him that he had so many and with the move, they could only take 7 with them and get rid of the others. He got quite upset and insisted that he would pay with his own money. Finally he agreed with the logic, we would go through the stuff animals at home and if he still wanted it, we could come back and get it if it was still in the store.

While we were paying, on older gentleman came up to us and asked if Matthew really wanted the stuff animal and I said yes and he said that he could buy it for him. I was so touched. I explained the situation and he understood. He wasn’t too sure if it was a financial thing and didn’t want Matthew to feel left out. That was so thoughtful of him. I was just teaching Matthew the value of stuff and the older gentleman was teaching us the value of giving.

I was really surprised at Andrew too. He is the one that usually gets upset about not buying things but when I told him that he couldn’t buy his stuff animal, he just said ok. Perhaps the more sensitive side of him didn’t want to add to the stress of the situation. He was teaching us patience. There is so much to learn from everyone.

All across our nation, supporters of life will be marching. Let us be a people who march for life and become a voice for those who cannot speak for themselves.
For more information visit www.lifevision.ca
email: L4L@mts.net
tel #: 233-8047
t-shirts for the walk will be available for $10 donation.

My last experience was not a very happy one as the cashier refused to ring up the totals separately so it made it confusing for the 3 children when they were paying from different purses and not getting the proper change.  After this experience, I have decided that they have to be more comfortable dealing with their money and able to access their money better.

The first thing I have to do is to get them all a proper wallet.  One that has a compartment for bills and another for coins.  It gets a little hairy when they pull their money out of their purse and you have to make sure that they are not dropping the coins or the bills…

The next thing that I have already started is using money to “play” store.  Matthew being 8, understands how much money to give and how much change he has to get back.  He has to think about it but the mental math is working.  Andrew at 6, knows his money, knows how much to give, unfortunately he hasn’t gotten the concept of how much change he has to get back.  That will be part of our Math curriculum.  Natalie who is 4 is still learning to recognize the coins. We need to “shop” a little more!   That will come in time.  The fun thing with siblings like Matthew, he is always wanting to help and teach his younger siblings.

To help with these issues, this is what I have done. I got myself a set of “fake” Canadian money and use it to buy and sell things.  Everyone sets up a little store and we sell things and price it so that they have to how much to give and how much money to get in return.  The lesson here is not to learn the value of things just to learn to use money.  We buy and sell from each others store and make sure we get the correct change back.  Matthew even had a bowling alley that you pay to bowl at, a fun little variation.

Learning the value of items is a little different, when we go shopping, we do price comparisons.  If something is $X, what is the value to him?  Is the same product cheaper somewhere else?  We figure what else can he purchase with the $X and help figure whether the product is worth that amount of money.  For example, Matthew bought a Papo dragon for $30, I didn’t say anything as it was his play money.  A week later, we returned to the store and found out that that item was 20% and he realized that he could have saved $6 if he had waited.  While contemplating the money that he could have saved, he figured out what he could have gotten for $30 instead of just one beautiful dragon that just sit on his shelf.  He then realized that he had made a mistake in purchasing that dragon and fortunately for him, he was able to return it.  Learning the value of items will come with time and exposure.  So going out and purchasing items with their play money is good practice for future larger purchases…

Slow Dance

Have you ever watched kids on a merry-go-round,
or listened to rain slapping the ground?

Ever followed a butterfly’s erratic flight,
or gazed at the sun fading into the night?

You better slow down, don’t dance so fast,
time is short, the music won’t last.

Do you run through each day on the fly,
when you ask “How are you?”, do you hear the reply?

When the day is done, do you lie in your bed,
with the next hundred chores running through your head?

You better slow down, don’t dance so fast,
time is short, the music won’t last.

Ever told your child, we’ll do it tomorrow,
and in your haste, not see his sorrow?

Ever lost touch, let a friendship die,
’cause you never had time to call and say hi?

You better slow down, don’t dance so fast,
time is short, the music won’t last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere,
you miss half the fun of getting there.

When you worry and hurry through your day,
it’s like an unopened gift thrown away.

Life isn’t a race, so take it slower,
hear the music before your song is over.

I had never been to a food bank before and this was all new to me.  We have donated to the food bank before but never really knew how it got distributed.  This one took place at a church basement.  According to how many people in your household, you get certain amount of food.  The staples like milk, sugar, vegetables and bread just to name a few.  We in Canada are very fortunate, even when you cannot afford to feed your family, there are many generous businesses, groups and individuals  that donate food to those in need.  This was a good experience for the children as they see the people who receive the food.  We know nothing about these people just that they depend on the generosity of other people to live.

The Winnipeg Harvest feeds over 40,000 Manitobans every month.  They transport food to local shelters, soup kitchens, community food banks and children’s programs throughout Manitoba.  Last year Winnipeg Harvest distributed over 9.8 million pounds of food to over 320 Member Agencies across Manitoba, including food banks, soup kitchens, youth programs and drop-in-centres.

Do you think you can help in any way?  For more information on where you can donate, help or receive food, go to the Winnipeg Harvest website at http://www.winnipegharvest.org/.

Who Needs Blood?

Approximately every minute of every day, someone in Canada needs blood. In fact, according to a recent poll, 52 per cent of Canadians say they, or a family member, have needed blood or blood products for surgery or for medical treatment.

In the US, 38% of Americans are eligible to donate blood and of those only 8% do.

The good news is that one blood donation – in just one hour – can save up to three lives.

(One unit of blood is the equivalent to one donation)

To find out where you can donate,

In Canada the website is http://www.bloodservices.ca/

In US the website is http://www.redcrossblood.org/

]]> http://ameliayap.com/mummy-thoughts/2010/01/take-the-time-to-donate-blood/feed/ 0