Walkie the Talkie

It’s easy enough to sit here on my laptop and bang on about all the ten jillion things we can do to improve the world around us and show our kids how not to be jerks. But actually doing this stuff? It’s exhausting. So in the name of disclosure, I will tell you that I have been working my tail off at this goodeedling. I just want you to know that I feel your pain. I know how impossible it can be to balance family and work deadlines and being a good citizen. But that’s what makes socially conscious and active parents that much more awe-inspiring, and it’s why I strive to be one. Right now, all I feel like doing is sitting on the couch with a cold Newcastle and a handful of Barbara’s Organic cheese puffs.

Fig 1: Dinner

Which is funny because that’s exactly what I’m doing. And I sort of deserve it.

In addition to the Food Bank foray, I’ve sent journals to runaway or abandoned teens who’ve wound up at My Friend’s Place. I’ve shopped for and collected presents (from my kids’ fantastically generous Thursday afternoon music class) to sponsor a family this Christmas through Beyond Shelter. And just this afternoon, I hauled myself to Santa Monica to load up my car  with hundreds of diapers and various other baby sundries to deliver to a new twin family tomorrow morning. As a member of Multiple Helpings, the philanthropy for the Los Angeles Parents of Multiples club, I occasionally deliver carloads of goodies to low income new parents. At 8 tomorrow morning, I’ll be off to Compton or thereabouts with the bounty. Is my arm tired from patting myself on the back? Absolutely.

So as long as I’m disclosing, I may as well say that YES I’ve bought three rolls of wrapping paper (so far) and haven’t done so well with the paper-lite holiday. And NO, I didn’t order the Cookies for Kids’ Cancer (yet- I’m saving it for Valentine’s Day). But I’m trying. And sort of walking the talk while talking the walk. And tonight, I hope, I’m sleeping the sleep. For seven whole frequently interrupted glorious hours.

Big Whoop

I just took at look at the Big Sunday Holiday Volunteering and Giving Opportunities list, detailing all of the many, many things people in LA can do to make life a little merrier for thousands of other Angelenos, and my heart is aflutter. I’ve got that sweaty palm, slightly sick feeling that my brain usually triggers only when I’m standing in line at a sample sale. OH- the possibilities! The fun to be had! The incomparable feeling of finding the world’s most magnificent cardigan for less than half of its retail price, or, in this case, helping someone who really, really needs it!

If you can wrap a killer present, buy a $10 grocery store gift card, bake cookies, set a table, donate a few underused princess costumes or just sweep a floor, you can help. These Big Sunday folks are incredibly cool people and you don’t have to wait until their massive volunteer operation in May—which is the largest annual citywide community service event in America—to get involved. There are dozens of opportunities, many of them kid-friendly, to do a goodeedle between now and January 1st. So don’t wait another second.

Read. This. NOW!