Here we are with a brand new baby and two discombobulated big sisters, an impressive family-wide sleep deficit, and and predictable, rock-bottom energy levels.

So can doing good remain in our vocabulary during such a muddled time?

Yes, but only because the groundwork has already been laid. We see now more than ever that forming habits of kindness, incorporating good deeds into the rituals of our daily life, makes it nearly impossible to give up the Doing Good Together lifestyle, even when a tiny new family member flips the household upside down.

Before the baby, I restocked the card-making corner, adding a few new address labels for the Color a Smile website, now that Make a Child Smile is shutting down, along with cardstock and sticker sheets to tuck into the cards. This is a lifesaver when Baby Brother needs yet another 45 minute snack and the big sisters need something to constructive to do.

Best of all it can travel outside with us, now that I’ve stowed it all in a handy Tupperware container. Just be sure to add a few rocks to the kit to weigh down the latest creation.

Now more than ever we rely on our walks to the park, and each time the girls spot on offending piece of rubbish, out comes a garbage bag. We’ve done this so often now that I get scoffed at if I praise them too much for their efforts to keep their little part of the Earth clean. Miss Kindergarten even rolls her eyes occasionally, reminding me that after a year of this, they no longer think of it as a unique or purposeful thing to do.

Making their parks a little cleaner is now a lot like brushing their teeth: a daily necessity neither annoying or all that exciting.

And perhaps I’ve forgotten to mention our favorite summer-time, earth-friendly habit. We keep a clothesline, to cut down on energy usage while we enjoy the sun. Admittedly, with a new snuggler in my arms most of the time, this I’ve been less consistent then usual about retiring the drier for the summer months.

Still, a few times a week we manage to put out the towels, sheets, baby clothes, and endless summer clothes on the line, and the girls enjoy helping. Little Miss Three views the clothespins as a personal challenge, and will stand on a chair trying to attach her socks to the line long past the limit of her usual attention span.

All of our talk about saving energy with the clothesline has helped them remember to keep the lights off unless they are truly necessary… and they don’t complain quite so much when I switch off the central air on milder summer days!

While we don’t yet have the energy to get back out into the world, we’re doing what we can to make it better right in our own backyard. I’m thankful that these habits have kept us on track!

Tags: Big Ideas, Healing the Earth, Parenting Challenges

About Sarah

Sarah Aadland is striving to make family volunteering a meaningful habit for her family of five. Join the conversation as she ponders what they may (or may not have) learned and looks for helpful information about raising compassionate kids.Though she plans to one day put her Masters in Public Policy back to work for social justice, she sees family volunteering as a way to build a stronger community, a better world, and a more connected family. In addition to her children, Sarah tends a large garden, a small flock of chickens, and a habit of mindfulness amid the necessary rituals of parenting.

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