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The Motherhood

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

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How do you get into the holiday spirit? Here are a few of The Motherhood’s favorites:

1) Movies. For adults, we like the classics, including White Christmas and It’s a Wonderful Life, and a few of the ’80s comedies, too – think Scrooged and Christmas Vacation. With the kids, How the Grinch Stole Christmas (the animated version, sans Jim Carrey!) and Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer are always great options.

2) Music. There are so many fantastic Christmas carols, we don’t know where to begin. Luckily, the folks at Mashable put their heads together to compile a Spotify playlist of 40 staff favorites that will get you started.

xmas music
Image by Flickr Creative Commons user Chiot’s Run.

3) Food and drink. Fruit cake and eggnog and candy canes – oh my! There are lots of traditional Christmas favorites, but it’s also fun to come up with twists on those classic dishes or start entirely new family traditions. For creative inspiration, check out these gorgeous Christmas-themed appetizers. Are there any special foods you make only for the holidays?

Image by Flickr Creative Commons user photolinda.
Image by Flickr Creative Commons user photolinda.

4) Family time. It’s a beautiful thing to have a day or two when work and life slow down and you can spend real quality time together as a family.

Image by Flickr Creative Commons user Jess J.
Image by Flickr Creative Commons user Jess J.

From our families to yours, merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

An Exciting Announcement

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We are so thrilled and excited to announce that a member of The Motherhood’s family will become a mother herself in June 2014!

CONGRATULATIONS to the amazing Brittney Coburn and her husband, who will welcome a new addition next year.

If you have first-time mom advice for Brittney, or any other moms-to-be out there, please share your insights, tried and true resources and good wishes in the comments below!

Above image by Flickr Creative Commons user Carolina Buzio.

The Wait is Over: Giving Tuesday is Here!

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With Thanksgiving turkeys cooked and eaten, and Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales winding down, we at The Motherhood are thrilled Giving Tuesday is happening tomorrow!

Now in its second year, Giving Tuesday has more than 8,000 Partners participating in this national day of giving. We hope you will join us in the celebration!

Two weeks ago, The Motherhood kicked off 12 Days of Giving with some incredible bloggers in our network, and in honor of Giving Tuesday, they’ve shared wonderful tips, ideas and anecdotes about their own give-back activities with their families and what giving means to them.

Tésa of 2 Wired 2 Tired shopped for school supplies with her kids to donate to Operation Christmas Child.
Tésa of 2 Wired 2 Tired shopped for toys and necessities with her kids to donate to Operation Christmas Child.

Janel of A Mom’s Take suggested buying toys on clearance throughout the year and donating them to kids in need during the holidays, and Jessica of Look Who Found the Marbles provided a handy gift guide of “gifts that give back,” so you can make donations simply by purchasing gifts for your own loved ones.

Even small donations make a big difference, as Liz of A Nut in a Nutshell noted in her post about donating toiletries and diapers to a local homeless shelter: “The mother who needed those diapers came right up to me with excitement and to express her thanks and gratitude. It was such a small donation on my part, but it made a difference to someone who desperately needed an item most of us take for granted.”

Of course, one valuable aspect of giving back during the holidays and year-round is the opportunity to teach your own kids about the importance of helping others. When Tiffany of Stuff Parents Need and her young daughter shop together for Angel Tree, a charity that provides holiday gifts to local children in need, she makes it a teaching moment: “This is when I talk with my child about how one thing it is important to do as a human is take turns helping out one another. Then I help her remember all the ways that people help us in our lives … After I help her recall how others give to us and how wonderful that feels, I explain that it is our turn now to give to someone else.”

If the idea of Giving Tuesday is a bit overwhelming, take this advice from Tracie of From Tracie: “Giving isn’t about how much you have – it is about meeting a need that crosses your path. Helping to meet one need, even a small one, makes a difference.”

One simple way to participate in Giving Tuesday is to take a photo and post it on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram with the hashtag #unselfie. Jessica at A Parent in Silver Spring took this #unselfie photo to highlight one of her favorite causes!

APISS

 

Another way to participate in Giving Tuesday is to use the toolkit and logos to post about Giving Tuesday to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, or your blog!

To read the other gorgeous posts about Giving Tuesday, you can click here for a full list of links. From The Motherhood to you, we hope you have a lovely holiday season, and happy giving!

 

Take the Shop Small Challenge and Support Local Businesses on November 30

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At The Motherhood, we’re always up for a challenge—large or small! That’s why we couldn’t be more thrilled to work with The UPS Store to support Small Business Saturday and the Shop Small Challenge.

While Small Business Saturday is officially celebrated on the Saturday after Thanksgiving (November 30 this year), it’s not just a day, it’s a movement that encourages shopping small and spending locally.

Small Business Saturday, founded by American Express in 2010 and supported by The UPS Store, helps local shops promote their businesses.

“I’ve found the resources available to small business owners like me to be incredibly valuable,” says Rosie Welsh, owner of Rosebud’s in Aspinwall. “Stocking up on the ‘shop small’ signage and bags from American Express and knowing that our local UPS Store is just a mile down the road helps me think big while still retaining the small-town charm of a local gift store.” (Find Rosebud’s on Facebook!)

To support The UPS Store’s efforts to celebrate small businesses, The Motherhood spoke with Nota Bene Fine Paper Boutique, a neighboring storefront in our community of Aspinwall, about the importance of shopping locally.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEoaLYWzrQs&feature=youtu.be

We encourage you to make Saturday, November 30 a big day for small businesses in your area! Tell us about your favorite local establishments and how you plan to support Small Business Saturday by sharing your thoughts on The UPS Store’s Facebook page or tweeting @theupsstore using the hashtag #iheartsmallbiz.

The UPS Store recognizes how important it is to support small businesses; each of its locations is locally owned and operated and the company’s mission to help local economies by helping grow and support small businesses in communities everywhere. Click here to learn more about the resources The UPS Store offers.

Source: http://www.theupsstore.com/small-business-solutions/Pages/shop-small.aspx
Source: http://www.theupsstore.com/small-business-solutions/Pages/shop-small.aspx

Join the Giving Tuesday Celebration!

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All of us here at The Motherhood are thrilled and honored to be on the team that is helping to launch Giving Tuesday, now in its second year.

On December 3rd, we hope you will join us to celebrate Giving Tuesday, a movement that designates a national day of giving following Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

“It’s a simple idea. Just find a way for your family, your community, your company or your organization to come together to give something more. Then tell everyone you can about how you are giving. Be a part of a national celebration of our great tradition of generosity,” according to GivingTuesday.com.

Isn’t Giving Tuesday the best idea!?

GT logo

 

Beginning this week, The Motherhood is hosting “12 Days of Giving” on our blog in celebration and anticipation of Giving Tuesday.  Each day leading up to December 3rd, The Motherhood will feature bloggers and their creative approaches to celebrating Giving Tuesday with their families and communities.   We will post across our social media channels and to a special Giving Tuesday Pinterest board.

Come back to this post daily for new links to posts describing how others have given back in years past, how they plan to contribute to those in need this year, the conversations they’ve had with their children about doing good, and what Thanks + Giving means to them, among other topics.

Please support Giving Tuesday and share your efforts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and/or Pinterest with the hashtag #GivingTuesday to help spread the word.  Another option: Take a photo, tag it #unselfie and #GivingTuesday and upload it to Facebook, Twitter or Instagram between now and December 3.

Giving Tuesday came about because the 92nd Street Y in New York and the United Nations Foundation teamed up to launch the movement in 2013.  In the first year, Giving Tuesday was a huge success, with charities recording a 53% increase in giving on average that day.  This year, already more than 5,000 partners have signed on.

We hope you’ll join the Giving Tuesday tradition and consider contributing your own time, money, and/or efforts to a cause you believe in this year. Tell us about your plans to give back and links to your photos and posts in the comments!

Day 1
Jessica, Found the Marbles: Get Ready for Giving Tuesday
Liz, A Nut in a Nutshell: Save the Date – #GivingTuesday
Janel, A Mom’s Take: Do You Celebrate Thanks + Giving? #GivingTuesday

Day 2
Jessica, Found the Marbles: Gifts That Give Back: Holiday Gift Guide 2013

Day 3
Elena, LiveDoGrow: Take Action and Give Back on Giving Tuesday
Jessica, A Parent in Silver Spring: #GivingTuesday 2013: Easy Ways We Can Help

Day 4
Shell, Not Quite Susie Homemaker: How Will You Give Back on #GivingTuesday?
Tésa, 2 Wired 2 Tired: Giving Tuesday: A National Day of Giving

Day 5
Linsey, Lille’ Punkin: Will you support #GivingTuesday? I will!
Adrienne, The Mommy Mess: 10 Ways to Join the Giving Tuesday Movement!

Day 6
Tracie, From Tracie: Giving Tuesday: Get Your Kids Involved
Brett, This Mama Loves: Teaching Children the Importance of Giving Back
Roxanne, Children Teaching Mama: Teaching Children About Thanks + Giving This Holiday Season

Day 7
Emily, Baby Dickey: Black Friday, Cyber Monday and GIVING TUESDAY
Lee, My Sentiment ExactLee: How Do I Involve My Kids in Giving Tuesday?
Kristy, The Wicked Noodle: Mark Your Calendars – Dec 3rd is #GivingTuesday!
Ilina, Dirt & Noise: It’s not called Thanksgetting.

Day 8
MaryBeth, Baby Saver$: How Do You Teach Kids to Give back? #GivingTuesday
Nicole, Pretty Opinionated: Inspiring My Son to Give Back During the Holidays #GivingTuesday
Renae, How to Have it All: Encouraging the Spirit of Giving #GivingTuesday

Day 9
Vanessa, The Queen of Swag: Giving Back on My Giving Tuesday Birthday! #GivingTuesday
Jennifer, Double Duty Mommy: Giving Tuesday | National Day of Giving
Xenia, Thanks, Mail Carrier: Encourage Philanthropy in Your Children This Season and Beyond by Participating in Giving Tuesday {#GivingTuesday}

Day 10
Tiffany, Stuff Parents Need: Giving Tuesday: What I am Teaching My Daughter About Giving This Year
Felicia, Go Graham Go: Encouraging the Spirit of Giving with Kids #GivingTuesday
Roxanna, The Jolly Blogger: Cultivating the Spirit of Giving in Your Children #GivingTuesday

Day 11
Jill, Just Jilly: Teaching Your Kids to Give Back #GivingTuesday
Ellen, Confessions of an Overworked Mom: Giving Tuesday Ideas and Giving Back
Donna, Blog by Donna: Spark the Joy of Giving Early and It Will Last a Lifetime #GivingTuesday

Day 12
Stephanie, A Grande Life: #GivingTuesday
Mary, Giving Up On Perfect: Giving Tuesday and Mercy House Kenya
Hanan, Lilac City Momma: How Do You Encourage the Spirit of Giving With Your Children? #GivingTuesday