Spring just has this way of making you feel hopeful. The flowers which only a few short months ago wilted in the chilling air are peeking up from the ground to remind us that this planet we call home is full of such extraordinary things. Even when we are in the harshest of environments, life is not over. It too shall pass and life will, once again, be vibrant and wonderful. There is a lot to be learned from nature, and I feel like as a species we are becoming so detached from it. Not long ago I was sitting on my front porch on a beautiful sunny day while my oldest ran around asking me how tall the trees were and my new baby stared up at the sky in amazement. It was such a wonderful moment for me – both of my kids enjoying their environment. Then a woman went jogging past with an infant in a stroller whose face was buried in an electronic tablet. I always try to think positively, but this made me so sad. I realized that given the option, I think my own son might even choose to play video games over taking a walk. I’m not ok with that. So I started looking for things to do that would capture his attention, and help him appreciate nature and all that is has to offer.

There are SO many wonderful things you can do to teach your children how to appreciate and take care of the planet, but here is a list of 6 that we will definitely be doing this spring!

 1. Start a garden. If you don’t have one already, plan and start a garden of flowers, fresh herbs, fruits, and veggies. Let your kids help you pick what to plant to get them excited about it from the get-go. Cameron’s favorite fruit is watermelon and his favorite flower is sunflower; so, I made sure I planned for both of those. Include them in every bit of the process from picking your seeds to watering them every week. Not only will this teach them about how plants grow, but it will also teach them about caring after things…and you get fresh produce out of the deal!

2. Make recycled paper and art.  Remember making your own paper in grade school? Messy, yes, but so much fun! The internet has all kinds of ideas for how to make recycled paper. Find one that includes things you typically toss in the trash/recycling or have lying around your house and make something beautiful.

3. Get a bird guide. Stop for a second and listen outside. Just close your eyes and really listen for at least one minute. Even if you live in the busiest of cities, you will hear many different chirps. Then open your eyes and try to look for the birds you hear. Now you know what a blue jay, a robin, cardinal, finch, etc. sounds like! Use a bird guide to help your children do the same. Identify exactly what type of finch you just heard. Not only will they learn about the different birds, but it also teaches them how to be resourceful!

4. Volunteer to plant trees. Most areas organize at least one tree planting around Earth Day (April 22), and all you have to do is sign up or even just show up at the location. A great way to take care of the planet and help your community at the same time!

5. Go camping and hiking. And I don’t mean giant RV camping. Even if you just camp in your backyard, leave the electronics in the house and spend at least one night under the stars. Cook dinner over a fire, go on a hike before sunset, tell scary stories, listen for animals, and if the sky is clear, identify constellations. Don’t forget the marshmallows!

6. Go on a collection walk. Have everyone grab an eco-friendly bag and set out for a walk and collect litter. Have one person collect trash, one collect recyclables, and one person collect things that might be reusable for art or home projects (such as paper towel rolls and newspaper). Make sure everyone wears gloves and instruct kids to let you pick up anything that is glass or sharp.

1. Grow tomatoes along a chain link fence, weaving the plant through the links. You can do the same with cucumbers and squash as they are also “vining” vegetables.

2. Cut the bottom of a 2-liter off, screw the lid back on and drill a hole in it. Secure it with two lengths of string on either side of the open end and fill with planting soil. Now you have a hanging herb garden for a window. Hang them from a balcony or fire escape and you can grow things like carrots, peas, green beans, or lettuces. Bonus: Let your children decorate the 2-liters for a personal touch!

3. Don’t forget the vertical spaces. If you have a sunny wall, you can have a garden. Using old rain gutters or lengths of PVC pipe, you can hang a garden down a wall. Plant anything that doesn’t need a deep root, like herbs or lettuces.

4. And don’t forget the space under your stairs. Anywhere that you get sunlight can be a place to grow something.

For the years that we shared a school, I would see Amy walking down the hall and I would turn away. I wouldn’t make eye contact. I would ignore her. We would ignore each other. Life went on. It went on until the summer before my senior year when Amy, Amy’s boyfriend, and Amy’s mother died in a terrible fire in that apartment in my old neighborhood. She was sixteen. She had no chance to escape. Their tiny basement apartment turned into an inferno and no one made it out alive.  In the instant that I heard the news, my life was changed forever.  I was ambushed with regret and horror of how I treated Amy.  The “shoulda-coulda-wouldas” flooded my mind and consumed me.  My heart had deepened with a combination of sadness and desperation to make all things right.  From that day forward, I vowed to be kind and to never let another person enter my life without knowing that I treated them the best that I could.

Flash forward ten years to the now.  Every person who reaches out to me is Amy.  Every friend I have is Amy.  Every homeless person on the street is Amy.  This has been both a blessing and a curse, really –one that I didn’t acknowledge until recently.  Sometimes people in need make it easy to give.  Sometimes they don’t.  Sometimes I want to be selfish.  Sometimes I don’t always want to be kind.  Sometimes I don’t always want to do the right thing for someone else.  That is when I see her.  That is when I remember her.  That is when I think about how I wasn’t a good friend to her….not even a little bit….not even at all.  I can’t go back and change the way that I treated Amy.  I can’t go back to the afternoon in July of 2002 and pull her out of that fire or give her back her life, but I can say she forever changed mine.

I write about this now, because of something that occurred the other day.  I was out shopping with a friend and a man approached us in the parking lot asking for money.  My friend ignored him and kept walking.  I stopped and listen to his story about how he needed money to eat and had nothing.  I took my wallet out. I apologized to the man because I never carry cash and all I had on me was a few dollar bills. I gave the man what I had and he thanked me and I went about my business.  Once we got into her car my friend was baffled. “Weren’t you worried about your safety? He is probably going to buy drugs!  What if he tried to mug you?” All were very valid concerns that I thought about during our brief encounter. “Why did you give him money?” she wanted to know. ‘You didn’t even hesitate. You didn’t even think about it!” and that was the very first time it occurred to me.  After all these years of trying to help people, of reaching out, of giving money (even when I really shouldn’t)….it never connected with me until I was asked right then and there “why?”  That was when I talked about Amy. How, I would never again regret the way I treated someone. I would always help in every little way that I possibly could. Amy made all the difference.

Some people are just born with a giving heart.  My father is one of them.  I will never forget the day he handed over his beloved 1989 Chevy Caprice to another family who had lost their vehicle.  He just gave his car away, because another person needed it more.  He didn’t expect anything from it, didn’t even want to talk about it.  He just did it because it was the right thing to do.  No questions asked. Miracles like this happen.  More miracles like this need to happen every day.  In an era when we fear strangers, when we fear sending our children to school, an era in which cruelty to one another is not only expected but often encouraged, maybe we just all need to step back and look at the Amys in our lives.  Maybe we just need to take a look at the people placed in our lives and evaluate why they are here.  Evaluate how you treat people.  Evaluate your daily interactions with the public, with strangers.  Is it time to start being kind? Is it time to start giving what you can or helping your neighbor?  Is it time to start truly being a good friend?  Let my hard learned lesson seep into your life and into your soul.  May it wake you up on some level!  Set a daily goal to offer kindness (in any form) to a stranger or to a neighbor, or to a friend. That is truly living. That is truly being.