• Stay calm. This situation is literally a nightmare for parents—I know. Kids don’t need you to telegraph your fears on to them. Turn the TV off when young children are present. Repeated news reports can make kids anxious.
• Give them a chance to voice their fears and answer their questions honestly and patiently. These may seem like small things, but they’re very important for kids struggling to process a disturbing experience or terrifying disruption in their lives.
• Be direct but also developmentally appropriate in your conversations. And remember, it is always a series of conversations, not a single sit-down. Expect a child to come back again and again with questions as they build a narrative about what happened; with your help it can be a healthy one, even if it is a very difficult subject. Make kids feel safe with love and continued routines. Security gives children confidence at the same time that it lets them be kids while they need to be.
• Finally, it’s important to keep an eye on kids and be alert to signs that they might not be recovering in a healthy way—changes in their patterns of sleep and eating, unusual irritability or trouble focusing, obsessive or pervasive worry.

It is this time of year, during the holiday season, that individuals choose to donate the most.
Money can be used to accomplish wonderful projects. It can be used to, fund research, build hospitals, support education, vaccinate against disease, it can bring comfort to those less fortunate. It can help to create miracles in so many necessary ways.
It is a huge responsibility to have vast sums of money. Most everyone in the position of having such wealth, know the importance of putting these assets to good use…some however, choose to ignore this fact.
I met a very caring woman named Anna, outside of a store, ringing a bell for donations to the Salvation Army. We had a long conversation about donating to a charity. What came out of our conversation was that some people need to learn to give.
No matter your wealth, if you have discernible income or an abundance of wealth, give as much of it as you can to a charity. One of the best resources to research charities of your choice is: www.charitynavigator.org

I met Maria “Lulu” Carter earlier this week. She flagged me down in her creatively painted minivan with a big red heart painted on its hood. I could tell from the moment she started talking that she was a very special woman. She has varied professional experience, multi-cultural background (born in Brazil, studied in Europe), and her ability to connect with people from all over the world make her a key part of Bee Gaia. Given her rich background, Maria has special interest and expertise in programs relating to the African Diaspora, education, and community service, thereby adding a unique dimension to House of Gaia programs. After our talk, she invited me to talk to the students at this center. After my short talk, she invited me back this coming Thursday, for a program to honor those affected by the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy. It is an event I will certainly be a part of.
It is amazing just how much this passionately driven woman is accomplishing. The website, outlining her countless successes, is a must visit: www.houseofgaia.org

Children are a precious gift to hug and to hold and to love.
Pray for everyone affected by today’s tragedy in Connecticut.

Having a child, family member or friend take his or her own life is devastating. Having to deal with the burden of coping with the loss of your loved one is a painful process. Fortunately there are many support groups that help to ease the burden of coping, one of these groups is Parents of Suicides – Friends and Family of Suicides. This collaboration of two websites offer many resource to help with the healing process.
The website can be found at: www.pos-ffos.com
Fox 4 Now TV reporter Julie Salomone filmed me while out riding and put a great video piece together about One Million Acts Of Kindness. The link is below.

http://www.fox4now.com/news/local/183246232.html

I needed an all day rain to catch up on a lot of items that needed attention on The Kindness Bus Tour. It stormed only half the day but it still allowed me to accomplish a great amount of work and still allow time to get some miles on The Kindness Bicycle this afternoon. I love to organize, because it affords me the time to plan future travels and strategy. I am talking with more people during the course of the day and it in many ways, helps to guide me as this journey unfolds.
Top on my list are the short YouTube videos I plan to start posting after the first of the year. These videos will address everything under the sun with the hopes that everyone will be affected by at least one of them. It is the same mentality behind all of the 400+ messages on The Kindness Bus, there is a message for all seven billion inhabitants of this planet.