The Birthday Project

I'm taking a break from the kitchen today; so that I can share my birthday project with you. In lieu of gifts this year, my birthday wish was to complete one Random Act of Kindness for every year of my life. The idea was not my own, it was inspired by this post and this movement that is growing exponentially.^[1][2]

I did not photograph our acts of kindness, because I did not want my birthday project to become all about blogging it. I had a great time blessing my family, friends and complete strangers throughout my birthday celebration.

I made a list and planned some activities ahead of time, but I also enjoyed being spontaneous as we ran into people that we could bless with these things. My kids and I started about a week before my birthday and last Saturday, my husband joined us to finish the list. I'm sharing my list today, at the request of several friends. I hope that this inspires others to share a bit of kindness with someone else today.

1.       Gave flowers away to the residents at a hospice and nursing care facility

2.       Invited our next door neighbor to dinner

3.       Brought in the neighbors' trashcans

4.       Gave a flower to the door greeter at Costco

5.       Printed my birthday email from Redbox and taped the free movie code along with a note and some tootsie pops to the front of the machine

6.       Snuggled on the couch and watched a kid’s movie with my boys all morning instead of working around the house

7.       Set up the kid’s wading pool and let them play for an hour before we left the house to run errands

8.       Took a flower to the girl working at the hair salon next to the grocery store

9.       Took a flower to our cashier at the produce store

10.   Walked around the produce store giving away candy and telling the shoppers to have a great day

11.   Gave granola bars and water to a homeless man

12.   Anonymously paid for a stranger’s meal at a restaurant

13.   Gave treat bags to the employees working in customer service at the grocery store

14.   Gave miniature chocolate bars to shoppers at the grocery store

15.   Gave a bag full of candy to our cashier at the grocery store, so that she could share with the other cashiers

16.   Bought a gift certificate and then gave it to the person behind me in line at the grocery store

17.   Sent cookies to a friend’s office for her to share with co-workers

18.   Delivered treat bags and thank you notes to the librarians

19.   Handed out lollipops to the rest of the people at the library

20.   My kids and I hung out for a while in the doorway at the grocery store, telling everyone to have a great day

21.   Made a big birthday breakfast for my kids and my husband â€" traditionally this is one of my husband’s gifts to me on my birthday

22.   Delivered a carton of ice cream, cookies and homemade chocolate and caramel sauces to the fire station

23.   Bought and then delivered toiletries to donate to the Phoenix Rescue Mission

24.   Delivered cartons of ice cream and homemade chocolate or caramel sauce to the neighbors in our cul-de-sac

25.   Took a bouquet of flowers to a neighbor living alone

26.   Delivered flowers to some friends

27.   Ran into a Jiffy Lube to deliver a bag of tootsie pops to the employees

28.   Delivered a meal to my sister and her family when they were sick

29.   Left candy and a thank you note for the mail carrier

30.   Taped quarters to toy machines at the grocery store

31.   Gave food to a homeless woman

32.   Traded my fancy birthday dinner date night for taking my kids to see a movie on Saturday afternoon

33.   Ran into a restaurant to give a free birthday dessert coupon to a table of strangers

34.   Ran into another restaurant to give a free birthday appetizer coupon to a group of strangers

35.   Gave jars of homemade salad dressings to the women in my small group

FAVORITE MOMENTS:

My 8 year old: “This is so much fun! I’m so happy. I can’t stop laughing and I feel like I’m going to burst.” Three days into this project â€"“ I still can’t believe how much fun this is. I never knew it was more fun to give things away than it is to get things!”

My 6 year old: “This is awesome! I want to give away a bunch of my toys now and make more people happy.” “I wish we had more bags of stuff to give away to strangers!”

My 2 year old: Telling every person he handed a treat bag to, “Have a good day!!” Sitting through his very first movie in a theater and looking over at us every 20 minutes or so and saying “Thank you much, thank you very much!”

Thank you for letting me share my joy with you. Hearing back from friends and family members with stories of how they blessed other friends and strangers on my birthday was quite possibly the most fun of all.

ONE YEAR AGO TODAY: White Beans and Cabbage^[3]

References

1. ^{^} this post (mixmingleglow.com)
2. ^{^} this movement (www.thebdayproject.com)
3. ^{^} ONE YEAR AGO TODAY: White Beans and Cabbage (barefeetinthekitchen.blogspot.com)

Source : http://www.barefeetinthekitchen.com/2012/09/the-birthday-project.html

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