Weeding for SickKids

 Michael has been fundraising for SickKids and looking for unique ways to gain sponsors. There were no walks or runs at the moment due to COVID concerns, so he is weeding for SickKids!  What a great idea! 

A New Normal

This year has been quite different.  I last updated right before the whole world shut down. It's been an interesting learning curve. We've had to deal with The Great Toilet Paper Shortage and the longest March Break in the history of time, but we've come out the other side... sort of... almost... (we may be going back in, but that's a story for a different day). A few things have changed. Some of us learned how to make sour dough, some of us learned how to make food from scratch again and we all learned how to slow down a little bit. Things have changed. So Michael's fundraising has had to change as well.  He has started an InMemorium page for David for SickKids.  His goals are quite attainable.  Please consider donating what you can. Let's watch the flower grow! 

http://my.sickkidsdonations.com/michaelhelpskids

                             

MLK Jr, Michael and Mayhem

Alright, I was being alliterative with the post's title, but there's no denying that we are living in scary times. While panic is never appropriate, fear is still a natural response to the unknown. Children are especially sensitive right now. They are little sponges, soaking up everything within their environment. It's how they learn to navigate this world and become successful adults. During this time we have an even greater responsibility than usual to help our children work through their fears and answer their questions calmly and with intelligence. I have always felt it best to be honest and upfront with Michael about what was happening in his life. (I have included this link: https://www.parentscanada.com/health/ways-to-help-kids-with-covid-19-anxiety/  to Parent's Canada Magazine for more tips on how to talk to your children about COVID-19). 

I don't think it's helpful to talk down to my children. Likewise, it's also not helpful to use overly complicated terms. Trust yourself to know what's best for your own child. And trust your child too. They can handle more than you think. 

 

Case in point; we started this blog to share Michael's adventures in creating bracelets to help sick children (by raising money for associated charities). After the death of his brother David, I was honest and talked to Michael about whatever he wanted to know, answering any and all questions (in language that was appropriate for a six-year-old). At the same time he was trying to process the loss of his big brother, he was inspired by his teacher's lessons on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s life. Michael's six-year-old understanding of his world at that time - grief coupled with feelings of being overwhelmed - were made manageable by following some of the teachings of MLK Jr.: "Darkest cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that." Michael realized that he could help himself by helping others. 

That was Michael's coping mechanism. What is it for your child? 

While I can't answer that specific question - for me, it's journaling. And I've made Michael and his sister do the same. We write in our journals after dinner almost every night (I give them the weekend off). Not only is it a great way to get your feelings off your chest; we are also living in historic times. It will be something to tell the grandchildren. (Mine and theirs!) 

Your mental health and the mental health of your children are very important to us. If you are in crisis and need to speak with someone please call:1-833-456-4566 toll free (In Quebec 1-866-277-3553) 24/7 or visit www.crisisservicescanada.ca or the Children's Help Phone at 1-800-668-6868 

We wish you all continued good health and happiness. We will get through this together (but separate).  

With Love From Our Family To Yours, 

Melody, Emily and (of course) Michael 💗

Another Great Birthday in the Books

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MICHAEL 2019

Michael's Really Big Cheque, Showing Off A Bracelet and His Certificate

As another birthday came and left I am pleased beyond measure that Michael has had the tenacity and dedication to stick with his goal of raising money for Children's Charities. This year marks 3 years of fundraising by making and selling bracelets. 

Whenever I get bogged down in my daily life; by my commitments to my career and the daily grind of housework, dirty dishes, meal preps and laundry (sooo much laundry! Seriously, does it self-replicate like some sort of cotton amoeba?) Michael is there to remind me that there are people out there who are so much less fortunate.  Each year his emotional maturity surprises me. He has a real depth of character that I feel (unfortunately) is a direct result from all of the heart ache and tragedy he has already had to face in his short life. The three of us live by a motto in our little house: everything in life is a choice. While we can't always dictate what will happen in our lives, we always have the choice to control how we respond. 

Michael's big brother David has only been gone for 2 1/2 years, but it is the 3rd birthday we have had to "celebrate" without him.  This August, which would have been David's 23rd birthday, we brought cupcakes to the police officers and a GIANT cake to the local fire station. Being a diabetic, I don't often taste the treats that we make, but I'm pretty sure that those firefighters had their sweet tooth sated for at least the next five years! And speaking of five years! I did the math... There were so many of you lovely people who contributed to our Go-Fund-Me (the reason that we bring treats to the fire fighters and police officers in the first place), that if we bring a treat every month, we will not be finished "paying it forward" for another five (5) years!  So a round of applause to all of you and a giant **THANK YOU EVERYONE!** Our hears are forever grateful for wonderful friends (near and far) and family like you.  

Blue Hearts for the Police Officers

Special Thank Yous and Easter Eggs

A GIANT BUCKET O' BEADS!!

Large Bucket of Beads from Jennifer Docka Kirton

In my last blog post update, I made an appeal for beads and WOW was that call answered in a BIG way! I am humbled and touched by the generosity of those I'm proud to call friends and family.

The first person to respond was Marsha Williams. The look on Michael's face when he received the package was priceless. We are having a lot of fun figuring out how to use the tools and metal to make different types of bracelets. (More "adult" or grown-up bracelets!)

Next a large box was dropped off. I was not expecting it, so it came as quite a pleasant surprise to see that it was from Michael's Aunt Jenn from the US! I don't mind admitting she had me an ugly crying over the touching letter. I held it together long enough to let Michael open the box and take out the gigantic BUCKET of beads! We'll have enough beads for a thousand bracelets now! (Okay, I may like to exaggerate a bit at times, but it is not an exaggeration about how touched I am by the amazing gifts we have received. We are very blessed to have such amazing people in our lives).

For Family Day we made chocolate chip cookies for our police department. There have been some cuts to our police force unfortunately, which means that our local precinct has been combined with 2 others to make one larger one. Also, it means that the precinct that was responsible for helping us the day that David died, is no longer open to the public. We are now in the process of making a new relationship with the only division that is open to the public in our area. It has been emotionally draining to re-explain what we are doing and why, but now, more than ever, the police force needs our support and our yummy treats too!

Michael's sister drew this lovely picture

This Easter weekend, we also thought it would be good to deliver treats to our police officers. We brought cherry tarts and Easter egg shaped brownies to 55 Division. Having learnt from last time, I tried to make flat foods to slide through the window to the officers at this new division (which wasn't an issue at 54 Division).

In other news, Michael continues in his altruistic endeavours. He has recently been asked by his friend "M" who suffers from selective mutism, to attend his social worker visits with him. I couldn't be more proud or feel more privileged to be Michael's mom.

Easter Egg Brownies

Marsha Williams' Beads

Happy Martin Luther King Day - Michael Helps Kids Turns Two!

Today marks the 2 year anniversary from when Michael decided he wanted to do something - anything - to make a difference in this world. After reading a story about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Michael was inspired to help his fellow humans. He didn't have a firm grasp on what he wanted to do yet. After all, he was six years old.(I'm 44 for crying out loud and I still don't have a firm grasp on what I want to do yet either... um... but I digress.)  As I was saying... Michael just knew that he wanted to help. We kicked around a few ideas. Eventually he decided he wanted to help kids, being that he is a kid, that made sense to me. As we chatted to try to figure out an organization to help I asked him, "okay, but how do we raise the money?" And he came up with the idea of making bracelets and selling them. And the rest is history.


At first, I have to be honest, I thought, "Who is going to actually buy bracelets from us?" I mean, I know I'm of the female persuasion, but I had never actually made a real bracelet before. Admittedly, our early bracelets were not great. But people bought them. And then more people them and then the police got in on the action, and now Michael's teacher and librarian and his classmates have even bought some. Before the school year began we had raised a whopping $200!  T
hat is quite a pretty penny for selling $2 bracelets.

As we continued to discuss different options and ideas, we finally decided to donate the money to Sick Kids... it seemed the best way to reach the most children all at once.  I wanted to make the day special for Michael, so I decided that we would gather up all the cash and bring it down to The Hospital for Sick Children on Michael's 8th birthday. (Then we went to Canada's Wonderland, saw some dinosaurs and ate a lot of ice cream... but again, I digress).

At Sick Kids Michael was given one of those novelty cheques to hold onto. OMG - Michael couldn't have been happier! The cheque was as tall as he was standing up! Also, I didn't realise that we could make a donation to a specific department or campaign at Sick Kids. Michael, being ever so brilliant, decided to donate the money in memory of his big brother David to the Sick Kids VS campaign. This way it will distributed to where the hospital needs it most.

http://www.sickkids.ca/index.html

We are already hard at work making more bracelets and selling them for next year's birthday drop off! We are also thinking of hosting a fundraising party at some point in the Spring.

Hopefully I will update this blog more than once every six months, but I also hope that you will all understand and forgive me if the updates are few and far between. Rest assured, there is always a lot of work going on behind the scenes. 

Doctors, Police Officers and Love-Ins 💖

Michael has been busy with the end of school and the  beginning of summer and one of the things he's been the most busy with is making new bracelets! As always, it seems like I have blinked and half a year has gone by, but we are on track when it comes to our bracelet making production! Here are the highlights of our summer so far:

Michael made a special bracelet for his amazing pediatrician, who raises money for cancer research herself each year with the Ride to Conquer Cancer for the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation.

As many of you know, Michael starting making bracelets after his big brother passed away and inspired after having read a book by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to do what we can to help others and to love everyone as equals. 

I speak often about how I witnessed the Toronto van attack and of course, we live far too close for comfort to where the Danforth shootings took place, so I feel strongly that we all need a little more Michael in our lives. His heart and desire to make a difference in the world keeps me going.

As many of you also know, Michael is an actor, like his big sister, and so I was able to hear of and bring the kids to their very first "Love In" at Withrow Park, hosted and founded in part by Steven Mann of Mann Casting.  I have met his mother many times over the years, but only know Steven by reputation and, of course, as Gloria Mann's son lol.  As a mother of a son with a big heart myself, I have a good understanding of just how proud she must be of her son as well. The last I heard on the subject they are going to become a registered charity and what an amazing accomplishment that is! If you want to learn more, look up 416 Light Up The Night on Facebook.

As I type this we are only a few days out from Micheal's big brother's birthday, which was on Wednesday this week. He would have been 22 this year. It's always hard for me in the weeks leading up to David's birthday and I find busy work keeps me focused. So as I like to do, I made treats for our first responders (This time cupcakes for the police officers of 54 Division).  While we were dropping off the cupcakes, Michael dropped off his business card at the same time and the kind officer behind the desk donated a toonie on the spot! Later that evening we received a pleasant call (while Michael was filming) that the officer had organized some donations for us to pick up the following day. I'm so moved. With each encounter my admiration and appreciation for our men and women in uniform only increases. (We brought them Timbits the next day to go with the cupcakes lol).


Suddenly, our new grand total has reached $160!  At $2/bracelet, that means Michael has made close to 80 bracelets (well... closer to 60 in reality thanks to the generosity of donors who wanted to donate more than the toonie for the bracelet).  We have finally called and made an "appointment" to drop off Michael's donations at The Hospital for Sick Children on Michael's upcoming birthday in two weeks.

For now though, he is off to be a kid, camping for a week with his Grandma, Papa and cousins. He'll have fun playing in the dirt and swimming in a lake and leaving the cares of the city behind!


As always, if you would like to donate to Michael Helps Kids, please feel free to reach out! I'd love to hear from you even with a kind word of encouragement and support. We take donations of spare change (100% of all money is given directly to Michael's charity of choice - this time Sick kids) and we also greatly appreciate donations of beads or other bracelet making materials.


A great big THANK YOU! to all who have already contributed to making Micheal Helps Kids such a great success to date! 💕💖