Christmas By The Numbers

Have a safe & Merry Christmas from everybody at

12/21 National Homeless Persons’ Memorial #HomelessMemorial

As the many of us are celebrating the holiday with a roof over our heads, this day serves to raise awareness of those who don't have a place to call home, and to remember those who have died as a result of being homeless.

For a list of 35 ways you can help the homeless visit justgive.org  Here are some of our favorites:

1. Understand who the homeless are - Help dispel the stereotypes about the homeless. Learn about the different reasons for homelessness, and remember, every situation is unique

2. Educate yourself about the homeless - A homeless person may be someone who lost their job, a runaway child, or someone with a mental illness. One of the first steps in helping people is to see them as individuals and to find out what they need. Notice them; talk to them. Most are starved for attention.

3. Respect the homeless as individuals - Give the homeless people the same courtesy and respect you would accord your friends, your family, your employer. Treat them as you would wish to be treated if you needed assistance.

4. Respond with kindness - We can make quite a difference in the lives of the homeless when we respond to them, rather than ignore or dismiss them. Try a kind word and a smile.

18. Tutor homeless children - A tutor can make all the difference. Just having adult attention can spur children to do their best. Many programs exist in shelters, transitional housing programs, and schools that require interested volunteers. Or begin you own tutor volunteer corps at your local shelter. It takes nothing more than a little time.


27. Play with children in a shelter - Many children in shelters are cut off from others their own age. Shuffled from place to place, sometimes these kids don't attend school on a regular basis, and have no contact with other kids. Bring a little joy to their lives by taking your children to a local shelter to play. Plan activities such as coloring, playing with dolls, or building model cars (take along whatever toys you'll need). Your own children will benefit too.

Merry Quizmas

Test your holiday pop culture knowledge
against the ultimate challenge … Merry Quizmas!

HERE’S HOW IT WORKS: you will be presented with the images of 60 different characters from various forms of holiday entertainment. Each picture is accompanied by a box where you can enter either: (1) The character’s name, or (2) The name of the source material, be it a movie, song, book, story, or TV show. (Remember, this fan tribute is free and just for fun, so don’t get too upset if you can’t get them all.)

ONCE YOU’VE TAKEN THE QUIZ, SEE HOW YOU SCORED:

0-10: Holiday Chump

11-20: Yuletide Yokel

21-30: Ghost of Christmas Adequacy

31-40: Elf-In-Training

41-50: Slayer of the Roast Beast

51-59: Seasonal Superstar

60: Grand Tinsel-Covered Viceroy of the Holidays

We tried and got 31 of 60…best of luck and let us know what your score was.

Take quiz now

Web Wednesday: mykidstime.com

Started in Galway, Ireland in 2007, Mykidstime was initially a local website giving parents in Galway information on kids activities, camps, classes, events and services.

Our www.mykidstime.com website has a Directory where businesses can list their service as well as content for parents giving them ideas for things to do with their child to family recipes to technology suggestions to places to go.  Most listings are for Europe but you can find some U.S. listings as well.

There website covers such great areas as

• Things To Do
• Food
• Parenting
• E-Zone
• Travel

They also have competitions and special offers.

Where to find them out on the web:

Facebook	https://www.instagram.com/mykidstime/
Twitter	https://twitter.com/mykidstime
G+	https://plus.google.com/+MykidstimeIegoogleplus/posts
Pinterest	https://www.pinterest.com/mykidstime/
Instagram	https://www.instagram.com/mykidstime/

All About December

Let's get the facts out of the way:

• 12th month of the year
• 31 days in the month  (1 of 4 during the year)
• December was originally the tenth month of the year in the Roman calendar. It gets its name from the Latin word "decem" which means tenth. However, when the Romans added January and February to the calendar, it became the twelfth month. They still kept the name, though.

Astrological Signs: Sagittarius & Capricorn 

Birthstone: Turquoise, zircon, or tanzanite              Flower: Narcissus or Holly