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Thirteen.

11/7/2011

11 Comments

 
Teens (and preteens) are an interesting lot.  I have one and I WAS one.  You never know which child you'll get at any given moment of any given day.  I personally have come to find that the early teen years are strikingly similar to the toddler years in many ways, but that gives me hope because I know that this too shall pass.  :)
One characteristic of the middle school set (at the least the girl side of it) is the propensity toward selfishness.  There is a lot of thinking about THEMSELVES; what they're going to wear, what their hair looks like, what someone else's hair looks like compared to their hair, who their friends are, who likes them, who they like...I'm pretty sure it's "normal" and I'm PRETTY SURE they grow out of it.  That said, when a "normal" American girl wants to spend her 13th birthday planning & performing random acts of kindness with a group of her friends and then they all actually have FUN doing it, it's pretty heartwarming.
The girls had a sleepover and then spent the morning planning out their day of giving.  The Birthday Girl had already asked guests to bring at least one of the following: blank note cards & envelopes, a roll of quarters, gently used blankets, jackets & shoes, canned food and $5-$10 each so they were already armed with a few ideas.  They decided to write notes to leave wherever their adventures took them...over 65 notes of kindness and encouragement when they were finished.
Once the adventure began, the girls really got into it.  They started really paying attention to people...cashiers on a smoke break, the custodian at the shopping center, parents with crying babies, children on the playground.  Here is the list of 13 things these girls did in honor of their friend's 13th birthday:
  1. Left handwritten notes in cards on park benches, cars and restaurant tables.  They got really bold and started handing them to people they felt led to encourage or thank personally ("Thanks for working at my favorite store.  You do a good job and I love this place.").
  2. Handed out water bottles to joggers, walkers & bike riders (their favorite was the lady whose job it is to stand on the side of the road and wave at cars to advertise a new pizza place.  She was quite the dancer and had worked up quite a sweat!)
  3. Loaded quarters into soft drink, gumball and game machines at a grocery store.
  4. Dropped off blankets, jackets & shoes at the homeless shelter.
  5. Donated canned food items to the local food pantry.
  6. Taped microwave popcorn bags to Redbox Movie machines.
  7. Paid for someone's ticket at the movie theater (they had fun secretly watching the guy's reaction when the woman told him his ticket had been paid for).
  8. Dropped change around a playground for children to find.
  9. Handed out balloons to little children shopping w/ their parents.
  10. Purchased & donated coloring books and crayons to the waiting room at the hospital.
  11. Left tokens for games taped to notes on games in the arcade.
  12. Left dollar bills in their favorite books at the book store (originally wanted to do this at the library but it was closed).
  13. Bought a $5 gift cards and handed them to people walking into Starbucks and Cold stone Creamery.
The day ended with a bonfire on the beach complete with roasting hotdogs and 'smores.  Several of the girls declared it was "one of the best birthday parties ever!" and asked their parents if they could celebrate their next birthdays the exact same way!  *Success*

11 Comments
Ruby
11/6/2011 11:04:25 pm

Genius! A real world example of how to teach teenagers the world doesn't revolve around them. Love it.

Reply
Laura
12/16/2011 10:54:51 am

LOVE IT!!

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anonymous
5/9/2012 05:51:48 am

i am loooooving this! i will definalty be doing this for my sons 14th birthday this month. thank you for sharing your thoughtful ideas, we always are looking for things to make this world a brighter place!!
thanks :)

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anonymous
5/9/2012 06:54:46 am

*definitley

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Mary Brown
10/1/2013 01:25:36 pm

Found this on Pinterest while looking for ideas for my daughter's 12th birthday. She immediately knew this was what she wanted to do. The girls had a great time & ended up accepting donations for some of their good deeds that they unanimously decided to donate to a boy in their class battling cancer. We were called by our local newspaper & they put a wonderful article about our random act of kindness bday party on the front page! A girl from our party is doing the same for hers in December & my daughter has started a tradition she wants to do every year. Thank you for the wonderful idea!

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Peaches
2/22/2014 09:29:07 pm

This is absolutely amazing. I've been quite disappointed in myself lately at how self-absorbed and unhappy I am with my life. I know the cure for this is to focus more on others, develop gratitude for how great my life truly is and be a far more giving person. I, also, know I am failing miserably at modeling a giving and gracious spirit for my children. They are so selfish and self-centered andI know I have only myself to blame. These ideas, I so hope, will help my children and I to focus on other people and get our minds off of ourselves. Thank you so much!

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AnnaS
12/30/2015 03:20:36 pm

It's hard not to get wrapped in myself and my own little world with its little struggles and crisis. But the answer is not to focus on others but to turn your focus on Jesus. He is the best example of generous living and loving. If He has your heart then He will fill it to overflowing with His love for others. Our hearts are naturally full of ourselves, and that is called sin. We need to turn away from sin and run into the arms of the One who created us and loved us unconditionally asking for the forgiveness He longs to give to us. (This may seem like a sermon, I know, but it's the best news you will ever hear!)

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Laura Irene link
12/7/2014 02:32:55 am

This was such a GREAT idea! I came upon this through Pinterest. Love this! Thanks so much for sharing.

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Debra link
1/27/2015 11:32:01 am

Thank you for sharing! I will encourage my grandchildren to do this with their friends! !!

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May
7/12/2015 11:52:25 am

please do NOT drop change around playgrounds, if babies find it they could choke!

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Sayra link
8/31/2015 11:50:00 pm

I LOVE reading this!! it is so inspiring, I am going to do this activity with my church girls. I can't wait to hear their feedback. Thank you for taking the time to share!

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    Robyn Bomar; Founder of The Birthday Project; Kindness Consultant, Wife, Mom, Friend.

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