also came to suggest pet care. It has been a lifesaver for my husband and I, and it has brought us close to our pet sitters in special ways.
House sitting in general is huge. “I know you’ll be out of town this weekend/week. Want me to drop by a couple nights and make it look lived in?” Or “hey, could you stay at my house for a few days while I’m OOT? Help yourself to food and beverages!” I’ve found this becomes really useful for the people who house sit and needed time away from shared living spaces, like college students or folks back at their parents’.
1) Arrange with a neighbor to have them keep a house key for when you might be away and packages come, etc
2) Restrain yourself from offering to pay someone for something when they might be blessed by the opportunity to serve/give for free.
Also a note on construction: you should make sure every potential bingo has both giving and recieving help! I am afraid some of us would gravitate towards the giving options so we shouldn't be allowed to bingo without receiving!
Agreed on encouraging people to both give AND ask for/receive help. Otherwise I'd get bingo without leaving my comfort zone. 😅
This week since Monday (not a super typical week), I've brought a meal to an older couple and chatted with the wife for an hour while her daughter-in-law, my friend, played with my kids; brought lunch and had a playdate with a friend (who has two kids under two and a half) and her husband is away for work once a month so she's parenting solo for several days; watched three of my friends kids while the other two had a doctor's appointment; and tomorrow I'm hosting our regular open invite Friday dinner, which for this year is twice a month instead of every week and usually has 15-21 adults plus kids.
Getting my normal errands run between these and standing summer playdates and daily swimming lessons has kept me busy this week, *and* I realize I'm insanely blessed, that my life is full of Catholic community every week.
(I've already preordered the book! Looking forward to reading it!)
I think there needs to be more squares for "asking". I'm the type of person who more willingly offers help than asks for it. When it's so much easier to just outsource (i.e. Uber/DoorDash/xyz paid service) AND the expectation of the community is that you employ those resources instead of bothering your friends and family, just asking for help is a huge barrier.
Help someone preparing for a school transition - college, kindergarten, a new teacher, a new school! Watch their kids, write a letter to send, prepare some lunch notes.
Buy school supplies for someone who needs them/contribute to a supply drive/buy things off a teacher's wish list
Ask for advice from someone when you start something new.
Ask a grandparent or someone older about when they were in school.
A square for: Trade phone numbers with someone you just met!
I offer to trade phone numbers with everyone I meet, and I practice attack friendship! If there's someone I don't know after Mass or at an event or at the library, I introduce myself and ask to trade phone numbers and then invite them to our open invite dinners. Some people don't come, but some do!
My six year old invited the grocery store checkout clerk to Friday dinner last year and he came and his girlfriend came and she started attending Biblical Greek at our Catholic Bible Study Center and now she'll be the new first grade teacher at my daughter's private Catholic classical school! All because of the invite of a friendly and confident six year old girl!
Ask the neighbor kids to play with your dog to get their energy out
Make a request to your local government for a need you noticed in your community (I noticed our temporary library location doesn't have a book drop for after hours)
Invite an elderly person out for lunch
Share your excess food or meals
Ask your friends for hand-me-downs, or let them know you're looking for something specific.
Ask your spouse to take over something that's too heavy on your plate
We just had a seminarian in our diocese who stayed with us for Totus Tuus walk around our yard and use his landscape architecture background to teach me about our current landscaping and how to change it if I wanted to. It was huge and totally catalyzed a landscaping project I’ve been paralyzed about.
Matchmake!
(Inspired by Leah Facebook posts circa a decade ago.)
Our hosting of regularly occurring Friday dinners has worked for some of our friends! Three marriages so far!
And my brother hosted a Catholic young adult Intro swing dance class last year and a couple who met at that event got married too!
feed someone's pet while they travel, or ask for pet care from someone. (I already preordered the book, but this came to mind!)
also came to suggest pet care. It has been a lifesaver for my husband and I, and it has brought us close to our pet sitters in special ways.
House sitting in general is huge. “I know you’ll be out of town this weekend/week. Want me to drop by a couple nights and make it look lived in?” Or “hey, could you stay at my house for a few days while I’m OOT? Help yourself to food and beverages!” I’ve found this becomes really useful for the people who house sit and needed time away from shared living spaces, like college students or folks back at their parents’.
1) Arrange with a neighbor to have them keep a house key for when you might be away and packages come, etc
2) Restrain yourself from offering to pay someone for something when they might be blessed by the opportunity to serve/give for free.
Also a note on construction: you should make sure every potential bingo has both giving and recieving help! I am afraid some of us would gravitate towards the giving options so we shouldn't be allowed to bingo without receiving!
Agreed on encouraging people to both give AND ask for/receive help. Otherwise I'd get bingo without leaving my comfort zone. 😅
This week since Monday (not a super typical week), I've brought a meal to an older couple and chatted with the wife for an hour while her daughter-in-law, my friend, played with my kids; brought lunch and had a playdate with a friend (who has two kids under two and a half) and her husband is away for work once a month so she's parenting solo for several days; watched three of my friends kids while the other two had a doctor's appointment; and tomorrow I'm hosting our regular open invite Friday dinner, which for this year is twice a month instead of every week and usually has 15-21 adults plus kids.
Getting my normal errands run between these and standing summer playdates and daily swimming lessons has kept me busy this week, *and* I realize I'm insanely blessed, that my life is full of Catholic community every week.
(I've already preordered the book! Looking forward to reading it!)
Give a ride to someone who is no longer able to drive: Church, grocery store, or out into the country for some air.
Invite someone over for dinner
Set up a playgroup or playdate for your community
Fulfill a request from a list serv or buy nothing group
Call a friend spontaneously
Preordering copies for friends! Meanwhile, a few ideas:
--Drop off or pick up another's kids at school, or better, initiate a carpool
--Volunteer to serve as emergency contact for another's kids/school forms
--Accompany/drive someone to medical appointment
--Ask for ride to airport
I think there needs to be more squares for "asking". I'm the type of person who more willingly offers help than asks for it. When it's so much easier to just outsource (i.e. Uber/DoorDash/xyz paid service) AND the expectation of the community is that you employ those resources instead of bothering your friends and family, just asking for help is a huge barrier.
Help someone preparing for a school transition - college, kindergarten, a new teacher, a new school! Watch their kids, write a letter to send, prepare some lunch notes.
Buy school supplies for someone who needs them/contribute to a supply drive/buy things off a teacher's wish list
Ask for advice from someone when you start something new.
Ask a grandparent or someone older about when they were in school.
Talk to two new people.
Meet someone up for coffee or tea.
Read aloud to someone
Pray for someone
Suggest a meetup with a specific date + time
Spending 15 min listening to someone (can involve problem solving or not)
A square for: Trade phone numbers with someone you just met!
I offer to trade phone numbers with everyone I meet, and I practice attack friendship! If there's someone I don't know after Mass or at an event or at the library, I introduce myself and ask to trade phone numbers and then invite them to our open invite dinners. Some people don't come, but some do!
My six year old invited the grocery store checkout clerk to Friday dinner last year and he came and his girlfriend came and she started attending Biblical Greek at our Catholic Bible Study Center and now she'll be the new first grade teacher at my daughter's private Catholic classical school! All because of the invite of a friendly and confident six year old girl!
Ask the neighbor kids to play with your dog to get their energy out
Make a request to your local government for a need you noticed in your community (I noticed our temporary library location doesn't have a book drop for after hours)
Invite an elderly person out for lunch
Share your excess food or meals
Ask your friends for hand-me-downs, or let them know you're looking for something specific.
Ask your spouse to take over something that's too heavy on your plate
Yard work: Mow someone's lawn, shovel someone's snow, rake someone's leaves, weed and/or water someone's garden
Help with a home repair project
Ask for help with a home repair project
We just had a seminarian in our diocese who stayed with us for Totus Tuus walk around our yard and use his landscape architecture background to teach me about our current landscaping and how to change it if I wanted to. It was huge and totally catalyzed a landscaping project I’ve been paralyzed about.
Are those dinners pot luck? That’s a lot of people. Where does everyone sit?
Spending 15 min listening to someone (can involve problem solving or not)