So good to be back from Haiti but I miss it dearly already! The kids I visited were just adorable as you can see! As you know from last week I took Loot Bag Combo labels to the kids at an orphanage that we were involved with. Right now they have 14 children and I am glad to report they all have their names on their bed. And they had them on their shirts and foreheads and well, all over. Their sweet faces lit up when they saw their names in print.

Stephen, the orphanage “dad” said the labels were great, because they are trying to teach the children ownership and how to take care of their possessions. He wants to give them each a box for their stuff and the labels of course will come in handy. In larger orphanages you will see children clinging onto toys they are given for dear life. They barely play with them because if you drop it, one of the other 80 kids could swoop in and take it. Everything is communal and they don’t really “own” anything, It is too hard to keep track of.

These children were so thankful for their gifts and I brought them another surprise. I made tutus for the girls and capes for the boys. There were tons of smiles all around! A big thank you to Mabel’s Labels for your support all the years I have been blogging with you and we are certainly going places! To Haiti and beyond!

Cub Scouts now, Rescue Worker later

This week I was feeling a little glum. I had a few close calls with the kiddos that really threw me off my game.

One kid didn’t hold the bus buddy’s hand on the way to the bus stop the other day. She stepped onto the road but jumped back quickly when a driver honked. I spent the rest of the day feeling like I was going to puke.

The very next day, I left baby alone rolling around on the floor to put something in the garbage. When I returned 10 seconds later he seemed to be doing something weird with his mouth. After some serious fishing, I pulled out the remnants of an old balloon. Gasp. I don’t even know where it came from. And here I thought I left him in a safe place.

So in my world, I had a couple of near disasters, though I find it a bit weird using that word in light of Haiti.

I didn’t want to hide Haiti from my big kids. We went on the Internet and heard political leaders speak about the tragedy and watched some Haiti footage. I even told them about all the deaths. I know they will have an answer to the question “Where were you when you heard about the earthquake in Haiti?”

It was a teachable moment and if I played my cards right, they would experience appropriate empathy and feel empowered to help without being totally traumatized. We made a family plan about how we, as a family, were going to response to this tragedy. Our plan included a donation made by me and the Daddy-o. In exchange, the kids had to decide what they were going to give up so that we would have the funds available. It was important to me that they had to do without so that we could give. In addition, each child contributed all of their “donate” money. Each week the biggies get allowance and it is divided between their “spend”, “save” and “donate” piggy banks.

It all ended in tears (by me) when my 10-year-old son asked if he could be a rescue worker and go over the Haiti to help out. Maybe one day.

Did you tell your kids? How much information did you share? Do you worry about protecting them from such news? Does your family plan to help in any way? Please share!