Theresa's Mixed Nuts: 5 Ways Teens Can Give Back This Holiday Season #WhatMonthlyPain

Wednesday, December 7, 2016

5 Ways Teens Can Give Back This Holiday Season #WhatMonthlyPain

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #Sponsored #WhatMonthlyPain #CollectiveBias


I think Audrey Hepburn said it best when she said, "As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others." We've been blessed to be able to provide our girls with a comfortable life, but in doing so, we also instill the importance of giving back to the community and to the less fortunate. While we find little ways to volunteer throughout the year, it's during the holidays that we can really shine when it comes to doing good for others. Mariah was gung-ho on making sure we were penciled in for some of our favorite charities, getting us registered on the day holiday volunteering signups opened. It has been a really busy month for us, but so rewarding. We have a lot of commitments this time of year, so we can't be slowed down when Aunt Flo makes her monthly visit. Cramps, headache, and back pain? Ain't nobody got time for that! That's why I keep Advil® Menstrual Pain on hand, so we can say, "What monthly pain?" and keep on truckin' all month long. When you have a teen daughter, those monthly visits can be unpredictable. Mood swings, irritability, bloating and cramping. We nip those issues in the bud as soon as those ugly symptoms start to appear. When you feel good, you want to do good, and I've compiled a list of our favorite ways to give back during the holidays. If your teen is looking for fun ways to volunteer this holiday season but isn't sure what they can do, check out these 5 awesome suggestions!



1. Find your local Angel Tree and volunteer to help people sign up to adopt a child for holiday gift giving. We have several in our area through the local churches, schools, and The Salvation Army. Better yet, adopt a child to buy holiday gifts for. We pick 2 each year, and it is so fun to go shopping for their gifts, imagining how excited they are going to be tearing into their goodies on Christmas morning.


2. Walk the neighborhood and collect canned and boxed goods to fill the local food pantry. In just 2 short hours, Mariah was able to collect enough to fill the backseat of the car!
  

3. Get involved in your town's holiday festivities. See if they can help with the parade, volunteer as one of Santa's elves, or pass out cookies to the kids waiting in line to see Santa.


4. Give blood. Mariah is involved in coordinating blood drives through her school, and through those drives, their high school is considered the largest supporter of our local blood bank. Teens do have to be at least 17 to donate, but can be as young as 16 with parental consent in some areas. What better way is there than to help someone with a medical need?

5. Make some homemade baked goods and take them to neighbors. It's a great way to brighten their day! 


Here's the holiday Peppermint & Chocolate Cupcake recipe that we whipped up for our neighbors this year:

yield: 24 cupcakesprint recipe

Peppermint & Chocolate Cupcakes

adapted from Paula Dean

INGREDIENTS:

  • 3/4 cup butter, softened
  • 1 1/3 cups sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp peppermint extract
  • 2 cups flour
  • 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 32oz powdered sugar
  • 2/3 cup milk
  • 1 tbsp vanilla extract

INSTRUCTIONS:

For the cupcakes
  1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Place paper muffin cups into cavities of 2 muffin tins. Lightly grease each paper cup with cooking spray.
  2. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in peppermint extract.
  3. In a medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Add to butter mixture, gradually alternating with the milk, beating until just combined. Stir in sour cream.
  4. Spoon batter evenly into muffin cups. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cook in pans for 10 minutes. Remove from pans and allow cupcakes to completely cook on wire racks. Pipe on Vanilla Buttercream Frosting.
For the frosting
  1. Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer, until creamy. Gradually add powdered sugar alternately with milk, beating at low speed until blended after each addition. Stir in vanilla. Ice cupcakes as desired.
Created using The Recipes Generator

I feel very proud that my daughter has such a generous spirit and gets excited to give back to the community. Making others feel good makes us feel good, and I don't want Mariah to be held back from participating in the community service activities that she loves because of menstrual pain. So, I advise her to use Advil® Menstrual Pain to help alleviate menstrual cramping, headaches and back pain for up to 6 hours. Not only do I recommend it because it is the #1 doctor recommended brand for menstrual relief, I like that it is Caffeine Free, Antihistamine-Free, and easy for her to swallow*.

*Use as directed
 
Since Mariah will be off to college next fall, I made sure she knows that Advil® Menstrual Relief is located at Walmart in the pain relief aisle with the other menstrual products so she'll be able to keep them on hand when mom's not around to take care of her anymore. That way, she can continue on with her community service efforts while thinking, "What Monthly Pain?"

To learn more, be sure to check out the Advil® website for additional information and promotional offers.


How are your teens giving back this holiday season?



37 comments:

  1. Some great ways to help out and brighten anyone's day indeed. She sure is gung ho, helping out all over. Good that such a pill can do the trick too to keep a cheery mood at your zoo lol

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    1. Gung ho, she sure is! I just hope there are as many opportunities for her to give back next year when she's at college.

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  2. These are all great ideas. I think it's important to teach our children about giving back. I think it's even more important to do that around the holidays, when there are so many people suffering instead of being happy and secure.

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    1. Well put, Stacie! There are so many that are suffering, right in our own communities, every little bit one can do surely helps!

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  3. Wonderful ideas for giving back to the community. Sounds like you have a wonderful, caring, and very grounded daughter. :)

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  4. My husband and son give blood as often as they are able to. These are all great ways to give back to your community. That's what the holidays are all about.

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    1. That's awesome Pam! Blood is definitely year round and I am sure they have been able to save many lives with their donations!

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  5. it is wonderful being generous and teaching your kids to be like that too! Too bad most rich people don't get that! Lovely photos all of them!

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    1. It would be so wonderful if we could all give a little more, rich or not. There are so many ways to give back that don't cost any money at all.

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  6. It's so important to get kids started young volunteering and giving back. Many times it's hard to get our teens to do the things we want them to, but if it's a tradition they'll be more likely to follow through.

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    1. Yes! We definitely started our girls on volunteering young and make a tradition of it. Now, they definitely look forward to our community service projects each year.

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  7. What a great post - giving back is so important this time of year. This has inspired me to go and volunteer with my family - happy holidays!

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  8. It is so important to teach our children to give back and these ideas rock! My tween is in a community service club that requires this type of charitable volunteer work.

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    1. I love the idea of a community service club! I am going to have to research this and see if we have any in our area. I'd like to get my 12 year old daughter more involved, but it seems a lot of our organizations require the teens to be 15 or older.

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  9. These are great tips. We like to volunteer at a local food pantry.

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    1. I am sure they really appreciate the extra hands, especially during the holidays!

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  10. Giving back is so important to me. You gave some great tips!

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  11. That's so great! We have a colleague who plans on leaving those in need food/treats anonymously.

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  12. These are some really great ideas for teens. And my daughter knows all about the monthly pain and could definitely use some help with it.

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  13. These are great tips! I love encouraging my kids to give back to community. Thank you for sharing these!

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  14. These are some great ideas.
    It is nice to be able to recruit teens to help out during the holidays.

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  15. Cupcakes lovers would like these. Great recipes tips. I would like these recipes and make this cupcakes. It looks so good delicious.

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  16. You both look great in the photos! This time of year is a challenge for many. I want to give back, but time is limited. I need to though. My kids need to. So far we've donated money to school. The boy's school is being a part of an activity downtown. They are decorating trees with supplies to keep homeless warm. Some people want help, but don't ask for it.

    I love the recipes you put up!

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    1. I hear you on the time limitations. We've been asked to help sort the Toys for Tots, but I just can't squeeze out the extra hours when needed. It sure is a busy month for all, but it sounds like you are still finding ways to give back that will surly help out in your community!

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  17. I know I didn't do anything like that as a teen

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  18. These are great ways for Teens to give back. My teens like to volunteer at the local food bank.

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  19. I have been in my local Christmas parade a few times, and I have volunteered at a rest home near me. My daughter helped out in both situations. She has fulfilled this commitment, so I am proud of her for that.

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  20. We did the first three. We have not done the second two. We probably won't be giving blood (I used to chair a donor program for it years ago, and I always donated, but my veins are hard to tap and as I get older they get worse). We may do the last one. I still have time. :) And hurrah for Advil! Def. a life save when we've got too much to do to rest.

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    1. Due to my illness, I can't give blood either :( I always feel bad that I can't support her blood drives, but they do understand why. Funny thing is, every time I go in for blood work, I get told how nice and huge my veins are, so I bet they would be a breeze for them to tap into.

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  21. So many great ideas- and parents can get involved in most of them too! Now I simply must try this recipe! #client

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  22. It's so important to teach our children to give back. I even have my younger ones doing the same!

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  23. I love this post so much. I think it is important for everyone to think about the ways they can give back, no matter what age.

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  24. Great suggestions. I drang my 15 year old son along to my charity projects

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  25. Yum, those look amazing! I also love these ideas because it's so important for us all to give back.

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  26. those are great activities you can surely do to give back and share more to those who need...

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Thanks for your comments! I appreciate every one of them :) Except promotional posts with added links. Those will be deleted.

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