Taking A Bite Out Of The Greed This Halloween

Halloween has gotten SO complicated! When I was growing up, it was about home-made costumes, running around the neighborhood with your friends, and, yes, getting candy. Mom took my brother and me around for a bit, we scored some sugar, and then came the REAL FUN: seeing what we'd gotten and trading for our favorites.

We approached these negotiations like leaders of countries discussing world peace. 

 

Since becoming a parent, however, and in maybe the last ten years, Halloween has become MASSIVE.  Costumes are upwards of $40 for just ONE day of trick-or-treating, some houses are decked out in macabre displays which (I think) gratify gore, and kids just seem a lot greedier.

Some children arrive at my house like desperate drug addicts, aching to score more of that almighty drug, SUGAR.

 (And, no this is not a diatribe on the dangers of sugar.  Not from this Snickers-lover!)

A few years ago, I got fed up with my daughter's candy craze. After getting so much candy that I had to carry it, I announced it was time to go home. Her eyes grew wide as her friends gave her sympathetic looks. “But why,” she wailed.

 

"Because it's time to give back," I replied.

  

As I guided her back to the house, I explained that it was time for HER to give to other kids. Our block was teaming with children and I wanted to show her that part of the fun of Halloween was seeing how other kids are dressed and the joy on their faces when THEY got candy.

It was only seconds after we got into the house that the doorbell rang. Her pout turned to a smile as she opened the door to a witch, a baseball player and a tiny Hulk. Her generous side exploded as I had to stop her from giving the kids WAAAY too much candy at a time. 

At the end of the night, she announced, “Mom, I liked trick-or-treating, but giving out the candy was more fun.” That's my girl.

This year we'll expand on the giving aspect by donating a portion of her candy to Operation Shoebox which sends heat-resistant candy (chocolate melts) to the troops. Sure, the local dentist buys it back and some charities give it out to the homeless, but the latter doesn't make sense to me: why give candy to people who can't afford dental care. Besides, we've talked before about how much the troops sacrifice for us. 

This year, we REALLY give back.

Halloween has gotten complicated. Giving has not. 

When WE take the frenzy out of the holiday and show children how to embrace their inner generosity, they learn that giving IS a really pleasurable experience.  

Maybe almost as pleasurable as sugar!

  

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And as always, thanks for reading!

Simple AND Fun: Watch Cat Videos, Help Fight Cancer

I'm not a crazy cat lady, but I do like watching cat videos. They're relaxing, non-dramatic, and just plain funny.  Plus, since I have a cat, I know how felines inherently believe they're cool ALL THE TIME!

Yea.  Real cool Cosy!

 

Recently, I discovered a website that lets you watch cat videos while raising money for a good cause:

Cats Vs.Cancer

Here's how it works: whenever you click on the site, the non-profit group makes money. Instead of pocketing the money, like most sites, catsvscancer gives to charities which help fight cancer.  Hear from co-founders Tom O'Connor and Eddie Pena here.

The videos are adorable, like the ones on other animal sites, but when you watch them on this site, you're generating donations for charities like St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Susan G. Komen, and The American Cancer Society. 

I've book-marked catsvscancer on my phone and at the end of the day, my daughter and I have a blast watching them. We're proud that just by being entertained, we're able to help charities.

Click on the link, laugh at the cuteness of the felines, and remember that you're doing something good for someone with cancer. 

And, as always.... 

Thank you for visiting my website!

 

I Am Having SOOO MUCH FUN Donating A Photo!

Do you take at least one photo a day with your cellphone? I do. And it may be of stupid stuff – a reflection in the pool, my cat, or a flower along the highway. Now those random photos can do good thanks to a free app available in the Play Store called DonateAPhoto. I recently reviewed the app for The Geek Parent (the link is here) and I'm having a blast with it!

Basically, you snap a photo every day and donate it through the app. For every pic you share,

Johnson & Johnson gives $1 to the cause you choose to help from a preselected list. Each cause receives a minimum donation and appears in the app until its donation period ends or its goal is reached. Here's why it's a great app for parents:

You know all those pictures the kids have brought home from school? And all those projects they either do around the house or acquire from not only school, but parties, etc.? Photograph them and upload them to Donate A Photo! Instead of those pieces just sitting around the house, they'll benefit a charity and become part of The Donate A Photo gallery where your kids and their friends can look them up. (You'll feel less guilty, too, when you finally get rid of those pictures and projects.)

J&J claims the pictures will never be used to sell any products or for any commercial purposes.  I'm not sure if I believe them, but the photos I upload are so harmless, I'm not worried if they do use them.  And you can look up which photos you've donated and which charities you've chosen for them to benefit. You can also Tweet about your pics and share them with friends on Facebook. Note that this app is not intended for kids under 13.

I am having LOTS of fun just figuring out what I'll take a picture of on any given day and choosing which charity will benefit (my name on the site is IsItHotInHere should you run across any I've taken). So far I've donated four photos of my kids' artwork, one of our cat, and one of our town pool. I choose innocuous subjects and, obviously, not photos of my kids (I am STRONGLY against posting recognizable pictures of my children). 

This photo of Cosy helped the Children's Miracle Network Hospitals

As parents, we're pretty quick with the cellphone camera. Why not put that camera to good use by donating a photo? As far as I can tell, it's a no-brainer.

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Thank you for reading! Please visit me on The Geek Parent (www.thegeekparent.com), on my other blog, Moms Crayon (http://momscrayon.blogspot.com), and on Jersey Mom's Blog (www.jerseymomsblog.com) where I'm listed under Moms Crayon. 

Freerice.com: Where You Can Play And Learn While Feeding The Hungry

What if there was a website that had oodles of educational games you could play and all the while you'd be helping to feed the hungry?


Welcome to Freerice.com, a site run by the United Nations World Food Programme. As you play vocabulary games and others involving subjects like math, science, geography, art history, foreign languages and more, you're earning food for those in need as Freerice sponsors donate 10 grains of rice for every correct answer you enter.

That doesn't sound like a lot, right? Yet thanks to people around the world playing on this site, millions of people in developing countries have been fed. Donations go to countries that need it most and are often ones that don't make news headlines, yet are still places where hunger runs rampant.

Worried that you might not be smart enough to get the answers correct? No a problem!



If you get an answer wrong, Freerice repeats the same question another time which gives you an opportunity to get it right.



And Freerice has a custom database that contains questions at varying levels of difficulty to challenge beginners and experts alike. It automatically adjusts to your level; when you get an incorrect answer, you move to an easier level and when you get three questions in a row right, you progress to a harder level. All the while, you're having fun and learning!

The site is completely non-profit with all monies raised going to the UN World Food Programme to help feed the hungry. Sponsors make all payments to the WFP directly.

For more information, visit www.Freerice.com and for more on the World Food Programme, go to http://www.wfp.org/hunger/who-are. Have fun, feed the hungry. It's a no-brainer!

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Note:  This post originally appeared on the website thegeekparent.com.