Family Matters: Helping others, grocery shopping and children’s books

Ways to make life easier with the kidos, from smoother grocery shopping to focus on helping children in Japan.

Kido Tip 1. How to Help Japanese Children

I heard (thanks to Beth Curtin sharing it on her blog, Acorn Pies) that the Misawa Girl Scouts in Japan are organizing the collection and assembling of comfort backpacks. Their mission is to provide comfort and a message of love to the kids of Japan who have lost everything in the recent earthquake and tsunami. The Girl  Scouts plan to distribute the packs after transportation and mail delivery becomes available in the affected areas.

They are collecting health and beauty supplies, books, activities, games, and other comfort items plus the backpacks. Check the website for a complete list of suggested items. You will only pay domestic postage since the package is shipping to a US Military base.

Ship items to:  Misawa Girl Scouts
attn: Jessica Payne
Unit 5027
APO, AP 9631

Kido Tip 2. Streamline grocery shopping and meal planning with a pre-printed list

I have been using the ALL OUT OF pad to streamline my grocery shopping ever since Katy told me about it a few years ago. I love how it organizes items by sections in the grocery store, the strong magnet keeps the list stuck to my fridge and how the kids have developed the habit of adding out of stock items to the list throughout the week. After reading parent hacks this week I was inspired by the added efficiency of being able to customize an online shopping list to suit my own family and may switch to this new grocery to list to help organize my food shopping and menu planning.

Read more on GoLocalProv. Every week I share tips on how families can make the most of their family time – including helpful hints that make parenting easier and connecting you to great local happenings.