DC Metro Moms

Memorial Day was fun, but happy? Not so much.

"Have a happy Memorial Day!"

I heard it about 50 times over the three day weekend.  I'm willing to bet that most of you heard it too.  You may have even tossed off the phrase yourself, not thinking about what it really means.

I'm part of a military family and I'm proud of it. My grandfather flew in the Berlin Airlift and made the Army, and then the Air Force, his career.  My father followed in his footsteps and I spent my life immersed in military culture.

My brother joined the Army after high school and is now a member of the Ohio National Guard.  He'll probably be deployed again next year, leaving my mother and his new wife terrified.

My husband retired in 2008 after 20 years of active duty and reserve service in the Navy.  I am an active advocate for military families.  Through my advocacy work, I hear stories every day about fear, death, pride, honor and love from military families.

Do One Nice Thing by Debbie Tenzer: A Silicon Valley Moms Group Book Club

September has brought a lot of back to school craziness to many moms, but we are also focusing on things outside of our own busy lives. This month, for Silicon Valley Moms Group bloggers' monthly book club, we are reading and discussing a book full of nice things to help the world become a better place. 

Join in as Silicon Valley Moms Group bloggers discuss book Do One Nice Thing by Debbie Tenzer.

• New Jersey Moms Blog's Lori leads us off with a chain of compassion
• Julie from Just Precious does many nice things
• Jennifer from Connect with your Teens is sharing the message of nice things with her family
• Amy from Le ShallowGal ponders whether telling people about her good deeds lessens them
•  Bonggamom from Finding Bonggamom notices that even kids can do one nice thing
• Heidi from Coast 2 Coast Mom passes it on when companies do one nice thing
• Jessica from It's My Life says you already do one nice thing
• Rebecca from Life With Boys tell herself to just be nice
• Chefdruck from Chefdruck Musings was feeling most sorry for herself when she saw him
• Amy from Occupation Mommy is helping her daughters do nice things for their sister
• Samantha from Temporarily Me Dot Com is made happy by giving her money away
• Kristie from Real Mommy Reviews asks "can you do one nice thing?"
• Melanie from Reviews from the Crib likes to keep her goals small and attainable
• Linsey from Me Too You substitutes one nice thing for another
• Rox from Rox and Roll inspires her children with The Box Project
  
• Stacy from Laptop TV Mom realizes that she needs to look beyond her four walls and not just when it's convenient for her
  

More posts will be put up throughout the day on our writer's personal sites, so be sure to check back to follow along.

New Jersey Moms Blog is hosting the book club discussion this month. Please go here to leave a comment and join in the discussion.

Read about the book Do One Nice Thing here.

Past Silicon Valley Moms Group Book Clubs have included:

• Birth Day by Mark Sloan, M.D.
• What Happened to the Girl I Married? by Michael Miller
• Testimony by Anita Shreve
• Comfort Food by Kate Jacobs
• Much to Your Chagrin by Suzanne Guilette
  
• It Started with Pop-Tarts by Lori Hanson
• Who By Fire by Diana Spechler
• The White Trash Moms Handbook by Michelle Lamar
• Writing Motherhood by Lisa Garrigues
• The Vaccine Book by Dr. Robert W. Sears
• The Other Mother by Gwendolen Gross

If you are an author or a publisher and have a book that you would like to submit for consideration for a future Silicon Valley Moms Group book club, please contact us at info (at) svmoms dot com.

Do One Nice Thing by Debbie Tenzer: Join us for Silicon Valley Moms Group's next Book Club on Tuesday, September 29th

How do we, as parents, make the world a better place? A nicer place? Has it changed since we became parents? Can it really take doing one nice thing? Join us on Tuesday, September 29th as we discuss Do One Nice Thing by Debbie Tenzer for our next book club.

About the book: A few years ago, Debbie Tenzer was feeling overwhelmed by all the crises in the news. But rather than give in to despair, she thought, Maybe I can’t solve our big problems, but I know I can do something. She realized that helping doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive or time-consuming. You can help simply by doing one nice thing. So that’s what she vowed to do, one day a week. Not every day–she says she’s not that nice–but once a week was a promise she could keep.

So she started a website, DoOneNiceThing.com, and each week she posted an easy way to help people around town or across the globe. Good news traveled fast, and now Debbie is the leader of a worldwide kindness movement with fellow Nice-o-holics in ninety countries. They’ve sent . . .

• cans of food to food banks and schools
• notebooks to soldiers who will give them to Afghan children
• gifts to foster children whose birthdays are overlooked
• and much more

Do One Nice Thing has many new, easy ideas for small deeds that anyone can do (and includes explicit information on how exactly to execute the ideas, so you don’t have to go digging for information or resources). There’s even a chapter of nice things you can do in minutes without leaving your desk.

Join Debbie and her army of Nice-o-holics, and give the world some help–and some hope. Best of all, the more help you give, the more hopeful you’ll feel. And before you know it, you won’t be able to stop.

Read along with us: Buy your copy of the book today and get ready to discuss with us on Tuesday, September 29th. See you at book club!

Past Silicon Valley Moms Group Book Clubs have included:

• Birth Day by Mark Sloan, M.D.
• What Happened to the Girl I Married? by Michael Miller
• Testimony by Anita Shreve
  
• Comfort Food by Kate Jacobs
  
• Much to Your Chagrin by Suzanne Guilette
  
• It Started with Pop-Tarts by Lori Hanson
  
• Who By Fire by Diana Spechler
• The White Trash Moms Handbook by Michelle Lamar
• Writing Motherhood by Lisa Garrigues
• The Vaccine Book by Dr. Robert W. Sears
• The Other Mother by Gwendolen Gross

Read along with us: Buy your copy of the book today and get ready to discuss with us on Tuesday, September 29th. See you at book club!

Past Silicon Valley Moms Group Book Clubs have included:

• Birth Day by Mark Sloan, M.D.
• What Happened to the Girl I Married? by Michael Miller
• Testimony by Anita Shreve
  
• Comfort Food by Kate Jacobs
  
• Much to Your Chagrin by Suzanne Guilette
  
• It Started with Pop-Tarts by Lori Hanson
  
• Who By Fire by Diana Spechler
• The White Trash Moms Handbook by Michelle Lamar
• Writing Motherhood by Lisa Garrigues
• The Vaccine Book by Dr. Robert W. Sears
• The Other Mother by Gwendolen Gross

2008 Donors Choose Challenge - reaching out across the blogosphere one post at a time!

For the month of October 2008, Silicon Valley Moms Group has partnered with DonorsChoose.org, to help spread the word about the lack of funding and support needed for our public schools The premise behind Donor's Choose is quite simple and effective. Through DonorsChoose.org, teachers request what they need and write a descriptive proposal of how funding will benefit their classroom. Some of the requests are basic: note books for a third grade class so the children can learn cursive, markers and highlighters, a binding machine, books, a digital camera, pencils (yes, PENCILS!), chart paper and washable colored markers. Others are to enhance the education environment in a creative way. Trust me, you'll be shocked and floored over as you read through the many requests.  And you will want to help.....

Since Silicon Valley Moms Group is spread throughout the country, we have made it simple for you to see requests from teachers in each region.  Please click on the links below to learn about requests in YOUR area... and please consider making a donation.  Skip that latte or cappuccino today - and give those few dollars to our public school classrooms! Your donation would be greatly appreciated. There is no donation too small or too big when we’re talking about supporting the education of our children.

• Los Angeles
• Silicon Valley
• Deep South
• DC Metro
• New York City
• New Jersey
• Chicago

We also wanted to give a HUGE SHOUT OUT (and link-love) to SV Moms Group Contributors that have already posted about DonorsChoose.org on their personal sites and blogs.  As Parents and bloggers, we are passionate about the public schools system and lack of funding to educate ALL our children. Regardless of our political views, public school teachers should not have to request the essentials to teach! As a country, we should be doing better.  Our teachers and students deserve more......THANK YOU SV MOM GROUP CONTRIBUTORS for spreading the word across the blogosphere!

• Beth from Techmamas:  DonorsChoose.org Challenge:  Donate To Help Schools
• Jamie from Blonde Mom Blog:  Help Make A Difference In Our Public Schools
• Leticia from Tech Savvy Mama:  Website of the Week:  Support Public Education with DonorsChoose.org
• Meghan from Meaghan's Mindless Muttering:  Donor's Choose
• Jodi from Jodifur:  I Know That These Are Hard Economocial Times
• Lotus from Sarcastic Mom:  Definitely Good For The Kids
• Amy from Selfish Mom:  Help Out Some Public Schools
• Florinda from The 3R'S: Reading, 'Riting, And Randomness:  Saturday Review 10-4 (good buddy)
• Ana from Finding Bonggamom:  Give, baby, give!
• Nicole from Not Just A Working Mom: Help a kid out... Invest in our future... Are you up for the Challenge?
• Robyn from Who's The Boss?: What if you could change the world for the price of a latte?
• Josephine from MOMMYVENTS: Help a teacher out.....
• Melissa from Cool Stuff We Dig:  We Dig the DonorsChoose.org Blogger Challenge
• MJ from ChicagoMomViews.net:  Chicago Public Schools need us!
• Jessica from Surely You Nest:  DonorsChoose - Targeted Gifts to Public School Class Projects
• Lisa from Blog On The Wall: Help Impoverished Public Schools
• Stacy from Fabulous Miss S.:  Boogers and Giving and DC Metro Moms Donor Challenge
• Karen from SOBCon08:  Karen Putz Shares Her World
• Michele from Mom Without A Map:  Keep The Momentum Going
• Shelli from BagMomma:  Invest In Education
• Stacey from Laptop TV Mom:  Donors Choose:  Buying Books for our Schools
• Jessica from Jessica Gottlieb:  Hey, Mom, This Means You
• Donya from Crooked Eyebrow:  It's Your Choice.....
• Cindy from We All Fall Down:  Help Chicago Schoolchildren
• Sara from Self Made Mom:  Hi, I'm Alive
• Lia from Freitas Family Follies: Donors Choose: Help A Teacher Out
• Dayna from Bourbon Baybee:  A Poser Donates
• Myrna from Tangerine Times: Donors Choose Blogger Challenge

We also have many friends and bloggers throughout the blogosphere sharing the SV Moms Group - DonorsChoose.org Blogger Challenge!  THANK YOU for helping us spread the word!

• Six Apart/blogs.com:  Bloggers, Start Your Engines!
• Burbed.com:  Silicon Valley Moms Blog Donors Choose
• Dad Or Bust:  Laughs are only a nickel
• Successful and Outstanding Bloggers:  Karen Putz on the Chicago Moms Blog  Donors Choose Challenge

If you have put up a post about our DonorsChoose Blogger Challenge on your personal blogs/sites, please leave a comment below and we will make sure to add your link to this post.

Jill Asher is the Co-Founder of Silicon Valley Moms Group.

'Tis the Season to Reflect

RECAP!!!

Around the time of the holidays, I can't help but think of all those who won't have a table full of food for Thanksgiving or their religious holiday of choice.  This is also the time of year when many of us distribute our contributions to charity for the year.  Others may collect food for local food banks, ring the bell for the Salvation Army, or volunteer through our churches and synagogues. But what happens the rest of the year?

If you are anything like me, charitable giving and serving the community became even more important to you after you had children.  Once I'd held that small helpless baby in my arms, I knew that I had to do what I could to ensure that every baby in my community had the same opportunities and love that my own children have. Whether you grew up volunteering and fund raising, or came to it later in life, I know that many of you, many of us, also had the same reaction to motherhood. As a result, the Silicon Valley Moms, Chicago Moms, DC Metro Moms, and New York City Moms are all writing about community outreach today.  Please join us, enjoy the discussion, and enjoy the holiday season.

Here is a RECAP of all the posts that went up on our "Community Outreach ..." day across the Silicon Valley Moms, Chicago Moms, DC Metro Moms, and New York City Moms Blogs.....

Thoughts As I Loosen My Belt or Bake Cookies

I was reading Sally Squires' column in the Washington Post today about how much weight overweight and obese Americans will gain during the holidays, what with all the parties, big meals, cocktails and sweets.  As I thought about how most people will gain two to five pounds from Thanksgiving to New Year's, I remembered a story I'd heard on NPR a few weeks ago about how the Department of Housing and Urban Development was touting a drop in the number of "chronically homeless," but experts said those numbers don't include homeless families, whose numbers may very well be growing.  Will homeless families gain weight over the holidays? 

And then I remembered another story I'd heard that same day, about how New York City was getting "tough" on homeless families that can theoretically bunk with relatives or friends, deeming them ineligible for shelter.   The disparity between incomes and lifestyles is pretty stark at this time of year. 

There are so many ways to help the poor and homeless around the holidays.  Our church provides food, gifts and gift cards to grocery stores and pharmacies to individuals and families whose names were given to the church by Alexandria Child Protective Services.  Our church also has close relationships with Carpenter's Shelter, and Christ House, which serve the homeless in and around Alexandria.

One Laptop Per Child

My husband returned from ApacheCon , a conference about the latest developments with Apache open source software, the Friday before Thanksgiving. He can sometimes be considered a cynic, but was excited by a presentation he saw on the One Laptop Per Child project.

Besides love, children need two things to develop into contributing citizens of the world: health and education. There are many organizations who help children's health and rightly so. Now, a new organization is helping with children's education and it's not even a month old, although people have been developing it for years.

Teaching Compassion

My children are very fortunate.  I am fortunate.  We have a roof over our heads, food in our bellies, clothing on our bodies, and enough money and love not to worry about tomorrow.  Because of the opportunities my children will have, they will likely enjoy a standard of living similar to that of my husband and myself for the rest of their lives.

While I'm raising relatively privileged kids, I want them to understand that with privilege comes responsibility.  So part of my job, and one of my biggest challenges, as a mom is to ensure that my children are compassionate people and good citizens.  I think a great way to do that is to teach by example.

Why aren't more people asking us to donate money for Tabasco Flood Relief?

This is cross-posted from our sister site, Silicon Valley Moms Blog.  We felt that it was important to get the word out through all of our blogs.  Please help us spread the word.

'This is not just the worst natural catastrophe in the state's history but, I would venture to say, one of the worst in the recent history of the country,' Mexican President Felipe Calderon, talking about the flood in Tabasco, Mexico.

BBC News: More than one million people are believed to be affected, with 300,000 thought to be trapped in their homes and more rain forecast in coming days.

Hi there, people of the silicon valley and web!  Today, I have a question for you.  Do you have a housekeeper, a gardener, a babysitter or nanny, or another house worker who is from Mexico?  Have you ever been waited on, had your food cooked by, or your table bussed by someone from Mexico?  If you're a mom, have you had some of the Mexican people, with their lovely, child-supportive culture, give you kind looks and a helping hand when your WASPy neighbors were ignoring you?  Have you or your children derived benefit from the added dimension that our overlay of Mexican culture in California gives you - in any way?

OK, now tell me this.  Have you reached into your pockets and sent money to the people of Tabasco, currently reeling from one of the biggest catastrophes to happen to Mexico in years?

Me either.

Why is this?

Today on the radio, I heard a statement that  went straight to my heart.  "Please ask the people of the world to turn their eyes onto Tabasco," the man said.  It made me think.  I haven't heard any news of local moms holding bake sales to benefit the people of Tabasco, Mexico, and I haven't seen any mails sent out in my email groups about how to help.  Nobody has made it easy for me to just Paypal dollars, you know?