DIY Neighbourhood Food Drive

My family and I have organized a food drive on our street for the last four years.  The first two were held over Thanksgiving weekend, when people were feeling thankful and generous.  Last summer, we decided to move it to July, when we knew kids and families would be more in need while the schools (and their breakfast/food programs) were closed for the summer.  It’s an easy way to make a huge impact in your community, a nice way to stay in touch with your neighbours and, in our case, a natural way to talk about community needs with the kids and discuss ways to make a difference as a family.

Here’s how you can organize a food drive in your neighbourhood:

1.       Pick a couple days to stay home so your neighbours can drop food donations off at your house and decide which food bank you would like the donations to go to.

2.       Let your neighbours know!  We printed a half-page flyer for each house on our street with all the details and my husband and daughter dropped them in each mailbox on one very hot morning a week before the drive.  The flyer also reminded them of the 545 pounds of food and $90 we raised over our two-day drive last summer and thanked them for their generosity.

 

 

3.       Collect the donations from your neighbours over your scheduled days and then deliver the food to your chosen food bank.   

 

 

4.       Thank your neighbours!  Most food banks have the capability to weigh the total donation and will usually send a thank you card with the weight noted.  We photocopy the card and deliver one to each house on the street so they can see the impact of their generosity.

It really is that easy.  We weren’t sure how this year’s drive would do, since less than a week before our chosen dates, most houses on our street lost their power for 24-hours due to a crazy storm and our neighbours likely had to restock their own fridges as a result.  We were pleasantly surprised when the scale at the food bank read 482.5 pounds and we handed over $140 in cash donations.  Another amazing year for the food drive and further proof that people really do want to help, sometimes all you have to do is ask.

 

 

Control, Control, Control

What I’m about to say will definitely not come as a surprise to those close to me: I have control issues. 

I need to know what everyone is doing at all times and things need to be a certain way or I feel out of sorts.  I am always the driver, (unless I’ve had a drink or two), and, if I do find myself in the passenger seat, I’m always quick to point out if someone is going “the wrong way”, even when it’s simply a different way to get to the same destination.  It’s not something I’m proud of.

These control issues have really been slapping me in the face lately.  Sometimes, it’s funny.  Like, when I sat down for a pee at work and found myself OBSESSING over the way the toilet paper was placed on the roll.

It was like this:

 

When clearly, it should have been like this:

 

That’s right, I changed it.  I WASN’T IN MY OWN OFFICE!!  I was likely never going to use that toilet again, but I couldn’t bear to know that the toilet paper would remain on the roll THE WRONG WAY.

Other times, my realization that I need to be in control saddens me.  My husband doesn’t usually go out after work or on the weekends unless we have plans together.  Sometimes he does though, and if he were to call to say he was staying out later, the conversation would likely go something like this:

Me:        Hello?
Him:       Hey Champ, we've decided to go for wings after the movie so I’ll be home a bit later.
Me:        Okay….so, I’m putting the kids to bed by myself then?!
Him:       Is that alright?
Me:        (Big passive-aggressive sigh) Whatever, it’s fine. (Although clearly, it's not),
Him:       Are the kids not being good?  Do you want me to come home?
Me:        Forget it.  Don’t worry about it.  I’m fine.  (Again, I’m clearly not fine.)

My husband thankfully has a backbone and will stay out to enjoy some time out with his friends despite our conversation, as he should.  I respect him for that.  He likely feels guilty the whole time he’s out, though and I despise myself for that.

Especially when the tables are turned. 

I met an old high school friend for coffee last week and returned home eight hours later.  I called about four hours in to let my husband know that I would be later than expected.  The conversation went something like this:

Him:       Hello?
Me:        Hey!  We totally lost track of time and are starving so we’re about to go for dinner. 
Him:       Okay, take your time.  Are you having fun?
Me:        Yeah, we’re having a great time!  Are the kids okay?
Him:       They’re awesome, like always.  See you when you get home.  I love you.

Just like the toilet paper incident, this conversation was a wake-up call.  My husband supports my time out of the house and I make him feel bad about his.  I need to stop this behavior.

Like most things in life, I think a huge step is being aware of the behavior to begin with.  I’m sure marital interactions like this are not uncommon but are probably denied a lot of the time.  I’m happy that I can see it; I now just have to change it.  I owe it to my husband now and to my kids as they get older. 

I make no promises about the toilet paper, though.  Hanging it under is simply incorrect. 

Why I support my daughter's love of the Disney Princesses

Every few months or so, social media is surging with links dissing the Disney Princesses.  Articles and blogs by proud mamas that dress their daughters up as real-life heroines or send their daughters to school as superheroes on princess day fill my Facebook news feed.  Don’t get me wrong, these are important lessons to teach our daughters.  I might add though, that the majority of people sharing these articles and blogs either don’t have kids or don’t have daughters.  It’s easy to have an opinion on something when you don’t live it. 

Believe me, I said the same thing.  I was going to protect my kids (both of them – my daughter AND my son), not only from the horrendous female role-models that are the Disney Princesses, but from the Disney branding itself.  And I did, for a while, but then they went to daycare and school, and were suddenly exposed to all sorts of things that I wasn’t prepared for.  Next to the junk food and toy guns that other people let their kids have, the Princesses are the least of my worries.

And here’s why: I am a strong, independent woman.  I not only manage the household and its finances, I fix things when they’re broken, I take out the garbage, and I cut the grass.  I take care of myself, I stick up for myself, and these are the female traits I’m teaching my kids purely by example.  I am the leading female in their lives.  I am the role model that they learn from every day.

So what if they love to watch Rapunzel fighting off the bad guys with her frying pan?  It’s no different than watching the carnivores in Dinosaur Train hopping on public transit or the Mystery Inc. gang running from goblins at the amusement park.  It’s make-believe.

My kids have have amazing women in their real lives every day, and that makes me okay with some Disney Princess magic when they play.  After all, isn’t magic and make-believe what being a kid is all about?