Take A Pic, Post It To Instagram, & Get A Needy Child A Pair Of Shoes

What is you could help a needy child and it wouldn't cost you a cent?  Now you can! 

Between May 5th and May 21st, the shoe company, Toms will donate a brand new pair of shoes to a child in need and all YOU have to do it take a photo of your bare feet and post it to Instagram with the hashtag #withoutshoes.

Yep, that's it!  Just post a picture of bare feet (your own, your family's, neighbors, etc.) and Toms will give children in the United States and abroad a new pair of shoes. 

Think about it:  YOU can make a real difference to needy children!  For more information on #WITHOUTSHOES, click here.


Spread the word!  This is too easy NOT to share!

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. 

Travel Anxiety – 8 Ways To Help Your Child Deal With Going Away

 

 

A psychologist friend and I were talking about how her Summer is going. “I'm seeing a lot of kids with Travel Anxiety,” she said. Apparently, some kids get nervous about going on family vacations, even though the prospect is exciting and promises a fun time. It makes sense. Children may react to change and that includes leaving familiar surroundings to find adventure elsewhere. And even though his/her loved ones will be there, the process of traveling, whether by land or by sea, may prove stressful. So with plenty of Summer still ahead, how can you lessen Travel Anxiety in your child?

1. Get your kid involved in the vacation planning. If possible, allow them a voice in the destination. If that's not feasible, give them some say in the itinerary of things you'll do while you're away. Having some control over what they'll be doing, perhaps something as simple as going to a park with swings, etc., may help with the powerlessness they feel by the prospect of leaving their familiar environment. 
   
   
2. If you're going to a hotel, show them photos on the hotel's website of what their room might look like. Seeing where they're going to be so they can picture themselves in a new place can help lessen nervousness.  
   
   
    
   
   
3. Let them vent and help the child problem solve. Discuss with them what they might be afraid of. You can reassure them that, yes, there are bathrooms on the plane and that there are, in fact, french fries aplenty in South Dakota. If they want to take a stuffed animal on vacation, let them, although you may need to stipulate how large the animal can be. 
   
   
4. Build physical activities into your vacation and let your child know that you'll be doing them. Walking, bike riding, hiking, and playing ball on the beach are all great tension-reducing things that will benefit your child mentally, as well as physically. 
   
   
    
5. Give your child some stress-busting tools. Positive self-talk, for example,  mentally repeating a phrase such as “I'm a big kid, I'm can do this, and I am calm,” while breathing deeply may help. And speaking of breathing, one technique Diva and I use is called Visualize The Flower. We picture a rose, which can be any color, slowly opening. We breathe deep as we describe to each other what the flower looks like (my daughter favors a tie-die rose), how it's unfolding, and what it smells like (sometimes cotton candy is the fragrance). The breathing bonds and calms us both down; it's especially good for when you're stuck in traffic or when the plane is taking off.
   
   
6. Reward your child for being brave.  I go to our local dollar store and stock up on trinkets to reinforce good behavior.
   
   
    
   
   
7. Make sure your child stays hydrated and sticks to normal bedtime routines. Being tired and thirsty only contributes to stress. 
   
   
8. Remind them that once vacation ends, they'll be back in their own warm, comfy bed with stories to tell their friends.

Vacations are fun, but they can be unnerving, especially for children who are powerless over routines and destinations. Yes, you're busy packing and organizing, but helping your child deal with Travel Anxiety ahead of time will help everyone have a better time.

Oh, and Travel Anxiety isn't limited to kids.  If you, personally, have Trip Anxiety, click on this article  for some great tips on how to deal with travel.

6 Things I Will NOT Share On The Internet

A photo my family online?  You won't see it - EVER!!

When the folks over at SingleHop.com asked me to blog about things I would not share on the Internet, I got excited. I've written, at length, on thegeekparent.com and this site, about being safe in cyberspace and with Choose Privacy Week ( http://chooseprivacyweek.org) having just concluded, it's a great time to think about the serious as well as not-so-serious things I will not share on the Web. Here are just a few:

1. My weight – It's not something I'm particularly proud, especially since it fluctuates based on the market price of Cool Ranch Doritos. Except for my doctors, no one will ever know the truth.
2. The name of my first pet, my mother's maiden name, and the name of the first street I lived on. These are all common questions asked when you need to recover a password. Providing any of these details could give an identity thief the last piece of data needed to hack into one of my accounts.
3. Identifiable pictures of my kids. My children will have plenty of time to decide what their online presence will be and, unfortunately, there are predators ready to exploit ANY photos of children. Unlike too many of my friends, you will not see clear, recognizable pictures of my brood in Cyberspace.
4. Announcements of where I am or where I'm going.  This is a no -brainer. Too many people divulge where they are when they post on Facebook. It doesn't take a genius to figure out where someone lives and, based on what thieves find online, that the house is empty. If you're going to post your location, you may as well put a big sign on your door saying, “No One Is Home. Free Stuff.”
5. Pictures of my body parts. Lots of people post pictures of their tattoos or what their hands or feet look like when they get their nails done or have a pedicure. No one needs to see pictures of my carcass on the Web.
6. Photos of myself doing anything inappropriate. I see people posting this stuff all the time, often with the caption "I'm so wasted!" and it seems remarkably stupid. First of all, why would you brag about that, especially if you're over 20 years old?  Secondly, do you really want relatives, co-workers, or present/future employers seeing pictures of this stuff anywhere, but especially on the Internet where it will be forever? And what about your kids? Eventually, they may gain access to your digital footprint. How do you lecture your kids about the evils of twerking, riding a wrecking ball while you're naked or getting drunk when there are pictures of you on the Web doing the same thing?  Apparently some people have absolutely no shame. 

Now that the Internet is a vital, sometimes compulsive, part of our lives, it's tempting to share every little detail. But commons sense must prevail.  I realize that privacy is something precious I need to be diligent about and protect. It takes work, but it's worth it.