Countdown to FUN (and Tradition!)

Like many people, our holiday season is filled with cheer.  And it is filled with the sounds of the holidays - the sounds of giggles and excitement, the sounds of wrapping paper ripping…

But unlike most people, our season is also filled with different sounds. It is filled with:

-         The sounds of footsteps going up and down our wooden steps

-         The sounds of adults patiently explaining colors and shapes and numbers   to children

-         And last but most common – the sounds of small, oddly shaped wooden doors opening and closing and opening and closing and opening and closing…

Those are the sounds of our season, because everyday between December 1^st – December 24^th, our porch is filled with visitors for a special event.

From morning til nighttime, people stream onto our porch to make their daily visit to the life-size COUNTDOWN CALENDAR.  And each day, behind a brightly colored numbered door, they find a special treat.  Some days it is candy, other days a small toy.  But every day it is something, and every day is filled with the anticipation of what they will find.

The Countdown Calendar has become a tradition in our neighborhood.  Like so many of our projects, it started with a wild idea and has become a community staple.  I envisioned the calendar and David designed and built it with love (measuring many, many times to get it just right). We are not sure how many Christmases we have celebrated with it, but we have also used the calendar to count down to other special events – an election, Valentine’s Day, an inauguration, Eid Al-Fitr…  At Kindness Activist we believe you can countdown to anything!

And it is so FUN!  Many visitors come every day to make sure they don’t miss a treat.  We average 55 – 65 visitors a day.  Some days the gifts are wrapped, making them extra special!!  This year 13 neighbors volunteered to wrap gifts ranging from movie theater size boxes of candy to balls filled with slime to honey sticks to wind up walking toys and more.  We have at least 50 “main treats” per day and plenty of back-up treats for overflow, because on nice weather days upwards of 70 people come.

The Countdown Calendar is good for the community in so many ways.

-         Seeing the brightly colored contraption on our porch signals the start of the holiday season

-         It gives kids and families a destination to go to every day

-         It helps teach shapes, numbers, and colors!  I can’t count the number of times in December I found myself out on the porch talking to toddlers saying things like, “Oh!  Today is day 5.  It is a YELLOW door with a RED handle.  It is shaped like a TRIANGLE (gesturing drawing a triangle in the air).  With enough patience and time those kids can find it independently.

-         It is an excuse for visitors to get out into the fresh air each day

-         It provides a build up to the “main events” of the month

-         It provides exercise for many guests who bike or walk over

-         It introduces passersby to Kindness Activist and our work (it often draws in curious strangers, especially at night when the light is shining on the bright colors)

-         It is a reward for some families – if the child has good behavior for the day, they get to come to the calendar

-         And finally, the most obvious – it gives people a special treat each day!

The Countdown Calendar might look like an easy task, but it is actually a huge undertaking.  Because it happens at the same time as the Santa Project, I have learned to prepare way in advance!  This year we started shopping for treats just before Halloween, and kind neighbors wrapped and returned gifts to be used mid-November.

Wrapped calendar gifts waiting for their day to shine!

The hardest part of the project is keeping the calendar stocked.  We only put out a few treats at a time for fear a visitor will break the golden rule and take more than one (I am looking at you, middle school kids walking past after school…).  Each time the treats run out we need to put in more.  Repeat.  Repeat.  Repeat.  Repeat from the time we wake up to the time we go to bed.  Kids who come every year know that if they find the cubby of the day empty, they are welcome to knock on the door and let us know (let’s just say we get a lot of knocks and doorbell rings during those 24 days…). 

But even though it is a lot of work, I love doing this project!  Kids are so happy to get a little treat!!  One special friend is a lover of chocolate and young enough to be delighted by everything in life.  To see his eyes shine and hear him squeal, “IT IS CHOCOLATE!” when opening a Hershey kiss one night was hilariously magical.  And the manners!  Oh my goodness, we hear so many, “Thank you Mr. David!” and “Thank you Miss Susan” s all month – so sweet.

My chocolate loving friend John and I made a little video in 2023 of how the calendar works.  You can find that here:  Countdown to Christmas

I have written a short blog about the Countdown Calendar before – here is a link to that piece: The Sounds of the Season

We won’t be counting down to anything super soon as now is time to rest.  But I can promise you this – if you ever pass by the Big Yellow House and see this brightly colored contraption on the porch, STOP BY.  Because you never know what you will find behind today’s door…

THANKS CUBE SMART!  Because of your kindness, the
Countdown Calendar

                                               can be safely stored until the next occasion

Kindness Activist funds spent on the 2024 Countdown Calendar - $768.82

Daily spend for the 24 days - $32.03

Average spend per person per day - .58 cents (using an average of 55 visitors per day)

Magical impact – immeasurable

(photos shared with parental permission)

Counting Down to Kindness

When you do a kind act, you have no idea the effect it has on others.

And it can be something so simple, so quick, so inexpensive.  Helping someone get something off a high shelf at the grocery store.  Complimenting someone's winter hat.  Pitching in $5 to help someone who doesn't have quite enough to pay for their purchase.

Since beginning Kindness Activist years ago, spreading kindness has become so ingrained in my life that sometimes I forget to pause and take note of it.  It is just part of everyday life around here.  And that's when I am thankful that something happens to remind me: stop.  Breathe.  Look.  FEEL.  Feel the effect that putting kindness into the world has.  Let that warmth resonate.  Let it give you energy to keep going.

I got one last night - a gentle reminder.  I didn't realize it, but I needed it.  Here's what happened.

Kindness Activist purchased 17 advent calendars at Trader Joe's when they first came out late October.  I like advent calendars - I don't remember doing them growing up, but as an adult, I like the repetition and certainty of them.  Counting down, one by one.  Calming.  And also exciting - getting closer and closer to the anticipated date.

If you shop at Trader Joe's, you know these calendars are not expensive.  They are a loss-leader for the store to get people in (like me!) who will pile many more items in their cart before they check-out.  

Yesterday was December 1st - the beginning of advent calendar season.  We had a super busy day and honestly, had forgotten to bring the box of calendars back to our home from storage.  Late in the afternoon we remembered, and David ran over to pick them up.

I posted in the neighborhood group - 17 advent calendars up for grabs!  Come get them - one per child per household.  Must come tonight.

People commented immediately, very excited to score the treats.  One comment stood out.  Someone wrote:  "We have two kids - this would make their month/year.  Can pick up right away since I'm just down the street".  I replied that I would hold 2 for them, and before long the father knocked on our door.  

I showed him the calendars and had him choose which 2 were best for his kids.  He took them with such care and made eye contact with me.  "Thank you.  Thank you so much.  My kids will be so happy.  I lost my job a few months ago...  We've already told the kids that Christmas will be lean this year.  So, you can't understand how thankful I am for these calendars."

Such a simple gesture - pick up cheap advent calendars and share the joy.

But it is impossible to predict what an effect it would have.  

To me - it was an advent calendar.  To that family - it was a small piece of normalcy.  A glimmer of hope.  An unexpected bit of magic.

Thank you for the reminder, sir.  It gave me the fuel I need to get through this week.  

I will continue the mission - I will spread kindness.  And I will hold your family in my heart and do all I can to make your holiday season a happy one.

Kindness Activist funds spent - $23.25 ($1.37 per calendar)

Reminder of the importance of spreading kindness - priceless

The Sounds of The Season

You don’t think of ADVENT CALENDARS as having a “sound”. 

I mean, they are inanimate objects.  Simple or ornate paper creations with tiny doors that peel open daily – December 1 – 24 – to reveal a small “prize” each day.  Most offer a small piece of chocolate (usually of questionable quality…).  But all offer tradition.  A sense of holiday.  Something to look forward to.  A bit of routine.  And a of excitement for what is just around the corner – creeping closer, closer, closer day by day – Christmas.

But one thing they do not have is a “sound”.

Unless, that is, they are LIFE-SIZE.

And not made of paper, but wood.

And not on a mantle or dining room table, but on the purple porch of an almost 100-year-old yellow house on the corner of a very busy intersection.

In that case, with that particular advent calendar, many, many sounds are on offer.

The sound of little feet scampering up 6 steps.  Then back down.

The sound of small wooden doors – various sizes, shapes, and colors – opening, closing, opening, closing.

The sound of giggles and laughter.

The sound of the doorbell dinging or tiny hands knocking every couple of hours to report that today’s cubby is empty and could it please be refilled.

The sound of wrapping paper being ripped away to reveal the magic that is today’s treat.

The sound of chatter as children sitting on the top step eating whatever deliciousness they discovered behind the door of the day.

The sounds of crying as a tiny piece of today’s toy treasure drops between the cracks of the old steps and disappears into darkness (and the sound of old bones creaking as Miss Susan ventures under the cobweb filled porch to try and retrieve the prize).

The sounds of friends – old and new – staying and chatting after meeting up and discovering what was behind today’s door.

The sound – over and over and over day after day after 24 days – of “Good morning friend!  Do you know what day it is day??  The numbers look like…The door is pink and the handle is blue…”.

The sound of whistles, freshly unwrapped, being blown as loudly as possible on the porch, down the steps, down the sidewalk, across the street, and on and on and on the way.

The sound of “Merry Christmas – thank you Miss Susan and Mr. David” for 20 days straight by 2 little visitors who faithfully visited until vacation plans ended their visits before the final cubby door could be opened.

The sounds of joy and curiosity and love and friendship and community and holiday and glee and wonder and tradition.

The sounds of the season.

Total Kindness Activist funds used:  $977.83, which sounds like an awful lot until you break it down:

$40.74 per day for 24 days

Average of 55 visitors per day

.74 cents per visitor per day

Value - priceless

Intergenerational Kindness

A Facebook friend, Karen, shared an amazing example of intergenerational kindness that she and her family undertook over the Christmas holidays.  Her family’s deliberate, intentional kindness touched many people and the effects of it rippled out into the community.  Here is her story:

“Acts of Kindness started out as an idea for a new family tradition introduced by my daughter-in-law, Callie. The intent was something fun and meaningful for Advent for our family. We wanted to incorporate a new tradition that felt true to the real celebration of the season, but still be lots of fun, too.

Karen's grandchildren getting into the holiday spirit

Together, we decided that every day we would each commit to a random act of kindness. This would be a wonderful opportunity to help teach their children (our grandchildren) to be generous and thoughtful during the holiday season, as well as a reminder of how really powerful and simple kindness can be. Participants were my husband and I (Karen and Roger, the grandparents), our adult children (Kevin and Callie), and our precious grandchildren, Molly (in kindergarten, 6 years old) and Ben (4 years old).

When doing our Acts of Kindness we noticed that when randomly helping others there was a feeling of REAL joy inside. It is the kind of joy that can only come from serving others. It’s a joy you cannot fully comprehend unless you are engaged. And how quickly the little ones were able to understand and really feel the joy!

JOY personified - Molly in a Christmas pageant 

One day Ben and I were walking back to the car when his school day was over. A man was on the roof of the church and Ben called out, "Hi up there!" The man broke out in a huge smile and said "Hi!. Ben immediately turned to me and said "That was an Act of Kindness!.  Of course, being only 4, he also used “acts of kindness” in his favor – one day after school he asked if we could go get ice cream.  When I hesitated a bit he piped up, “It would be an act of KINDNESS!”.  Needless to say, we got ice cream…

Ok, maybe THIS example of kindness was a tiny bit self-serving, but you have to give it to the kid for trying! :)

We will absolutely do this new tradition again. We so underestimate the power of kindness and the "ripple down" effect it has on others. One act of kindness the children did was to set up a lemonade stand in the front yard. The proceeds they made were donated to the ECHO Food Pantry. Well, the morning after the lemonade sale, 4 large bags of groceries appeared on my front doorstep. There was no name on the bags or any explanation. It took me a few minutes to figure it out, but I realized – this was a food donation to the Pantry!  Because of the acts of the children someone saw the day before, a stranger was moved to help others, too.  Do you see what I mean by “ripple down”?

I regret that I was not in town to stop at this lemonade stand!  LOOK at the signs!  I love the sign Ben is holding "WELCOME FRIEND    S".  It is perfect!  The kids took all the money they earned to the grocery store and bought food, then donated it to the local food pantry.  What a generous act of kindness.

Most everyone reacts positively to kindness. Oddly enough, when sharing kindness with strangers, it sometimes felt like a barrier was lifted. It was as if, for a brief moment, we shared a kind of kinship with each other.

Molly (kindergarten) even asked to help the teacher and read to some of her classmates. When Kevin and Callie questioned Molly about her actions, she replied that she was doing her Acts of Kindness at school. Kids really do "get it" when they do it themselves. I give so much credit to my amazing daughter-in-law. She lives her faith and is teaching our grandchildren by example!

The whole family went to a "Fun Run" for Tidwell Hospice.  

Hopefully, doing Acts of Kindness will continue to be something we are deliberate in thinking about and will be a gentle reminder to take advantage of the daily opportunities to make our world a better place.”

KINDNESS ACTIVISTS!!!

Susan here - are YOU a kindness activist??  Have you given, received, or seen KINDNESS that you would like to share?  Please  write to me at kindnessactivist@gmail.com and tell me about it.  Kindness shared with others starts the RIPPLE EFFECT that Karen explained - when people see/hear about kindness, they are inspired to share kindness, too!  Help me get the word out, and be a KINDNESS ACTIVIST!