Kids don’t need a national tragedy, like the mass shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, to know that taking time to help others is fun and that when we help others, we are helping ourselves.

Our entire nation has been gripped with pain, shock, and most of all sadness since the horrific events at Newtown, Connecticut last week. I know I have been walking around in a teary daze for the past week. Things that meant so much last Thursday, like the fact that my cat won’t stay out of the Christmas tree or my car needs an oil change, now seem pitifully insignificant. My amazing family shines with the same brilliant light they always have. But I, like most of us, take for granted the sheer fact we have become accustomed to it. I cannot stop thinking of the families spending this holiday season with their loved ones so cruelly ripped away from them. Therefore, we decided to do our small part to help.

Now, my son is three and does not know about the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School. He is too young to comprehend such evil. Christine’s children, miss A and little N, are also of the tender age of four and two respectfully. Trying to explain the deaths of 26 innocent people inside a school makes no sense so Christine and I, so we decided not to brooch the topic with them. However, though they are young, they are not too young to understand empathy. I want my son to know that when someone is hurting, regardless of whether you know the person, you can do something to help and make a difference. With this is mind, we decided to make holiday cards for the grieving citizens of Newtown.

My son and little N immediately jumped at the chance to do an art project with little thought as to the reason, but miss A (I should mention she is four going on fourteen!) wanted to know why we were making cards for people we don’t know. This is what Christine said, “There are people in this world who are not as fortunate as we are to have their mommy and daddy and siblings with them for the holidays. We want to make sure they know we are thinking of them so we will make them special cards so they know they are not alone.” It was simple, poignant, and effective. Miss A understood and immediately asked for a pink card, since she was making a special picture for a little girl who loved Christmas as much as she does.

That is what amazes me so much about kids. They don’t need a reason to do good. They don’t waste time weighing the pros and cons. They don’t need a national tragedy that literally brings them to their knees to know that taking time to help others is fun and that when we help others, we are helping ourselves. We can all learn so much from the innocence children that shines out daily.

We lost 20 of these precious and innocent lights on December 14th. Let’s make sure we all take the time to do whatever we can to bring just an ounce of that light back into our world. Here is what you can do to help:

Address for Letters of Condolences to the citizens of Newtown

Addresses for First Responders

26 Acts of Kindness

Make your community and country a better place! Look here for more information on the 26 Acts of Kindness Campaign. People around the country are committing random acts of kindness in honor of the victims. Here’s a sheet to fill out and share with others for you, not only for when you follow through on an act of kindness, but to share with others so that they too can pursue their own 26 acts of kindness. Please be sure to use the #26Acts and #26ActsofKindness hashtags with @AnnCurry when you tweet on Twitter about this campaign or go to Facebook.com/26Acts.

Are you doing something to help Newtown and the nation? Lets us know!

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It’s always difficult to find the right thing to say following a tragedy. Last Friday, the nation was jarred to find the ugly and repugnant actions of one person caused tremendous chaos and pain to not only a community, but a nation. The mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, in which 20 children and six adults were innocently gunned down has left a rift in our hearts as parents. Innocent children were taken from their parents. Teachers and administrators sacrificed their lives to protect the children in their care.

The mood of the nation is somber and saddened. We are grieving. We believe that so many blogs during the National Blogging Day of Remembrance, said it best:

“We know that no words, no gifts, no acts of service will ever take away the pain, but we, as bloggers and parents collectively, want those affected by this to know how close to our hearts they are:

We love you. We pray for you. We’re so brokenhearted for your loss.

To honor the memory of lives cut short, we choose to step away from our blogs and computers today to celebrate the gift of life and those we love most: our children, families, good friends, and community. We’re holding our kids a little closer, reaching out to neighbors and giving thanks for the moments we have together.”

We couldn’t have said it better ourselves. No parent should ever have to bury their child. Gun violence, acts of terrorism, foreign and domestic, and the treatment of mental health problems are all worthy of a robust discussion in our homes, places of worship, communities, and government. However, today is a day that we choose to mourn and honor those who were lost on December 14, 2012.

We must make the choice not to live in fear or anger. Instead, we must embrace every moment as a gift. Hug your children. Hug your husband, wife or partner and your loved ones. Tell them that you love them. Cherish each moment.

The following is a list (as released by police) of the victims in Friday’s shooting spree on the campus of Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.  Our hearts go out to these fallen, their families and loved ones today. We know that we couldn’t get through something like this on our own and our minds and prayers go out in support of those lost and their families.

In remembrance:

• Charlotte Bacon, 2/22/06, female
• Daniel Barden, 9/25/05, male
• Rachel Davino, 7/17/83, female
• Olivia Engel, 7/18/06, female
• Josephine Gay, 12/11/05, female
• Ana M. Marquez-Greene, 04/04/06, female
• Dylan Hockley, 3/8/06, male
• Dawn Hochsprung, 06/28/65, female
• Madeleine F. Hsu, 7/10/06, female
• Catherine V. Hubbard, 6/08/06, female
• Chase Kowalski, 10/31/05, male
• Jesse Lewis, 6/30/06, male
• James Mattioli , 3/22/06, male
• Grace McDonnell, 12/04/05, female
• Anne Marie Murphy, 07/25/60, female
• Emilie Parker, 5/12/06, female
• Jack Pinto, 5/06/06, male
• Noah Pozner, 11/20/06, male
• Caroline Previdi, 9/07/06, female
• Jessica Rekos, 5/10/06, female
• Avielle Richman, 10/17/06, female
• Lauren Rousseau, 6/1982, female (full date of birth not specified)
• Mary Sherlach, 2/11/56, female
• Victoria Soto, 11/04/85, female
• Benjamin Wheeler, 9/12/06, male
• Allison N. Wyatt, 7/03/06, female
• Source: Huffington Post

If you want to join in donating to the families of Sandy Hook Elementary, donation links are listed at ChoosetoThrive.blogspot.com.

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For all reviews, please exercise discretion. If the sponsor of the article is in conflict of the topic of the article, we will pull down the sponsorship to remove any conflict of interest with the article at-hand. For instance, there is an article about a hamburger restaurant and a competing hamburger restaurant sponsors the article; we will pull the sponsorship and issue a refund.

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