Are you familiar with Snowflakes for Sandy Hook?

On December 21, just as school was letting out for the holidays, our principal sent an email detailing a special project for the children returning to school for the first time since the horrific tragedy on December 14. And, as fate would have it, my daughter, Vivien, had just set up a veritable sweatshop in her room with the intention of making snowflakes (thanks to a crafty idea shared by my friend, Mel) for every member of our entire family.

But … as soon as she read the email from our principal … she shifted her focus. She amended her original gift giving plan to be that each household (rather than each person) would receive a family snowflake so that she could free up her time to get started on her Snowflakes for Sandy Hook.

Then there was the problem of mail-ability. The snowflakes she’d been making were rather three-dimensional and likely wouldn’t fare well in a package traveling from New Orleans to Connecticut. So, she redesigned her snowflakes to a one-dimensional-but-still-very-lovely variety. She worked tirelessly with Herve the hamster at her side to the musical stylings of Alvin, Simon & Theodore and … in the end … turned out One Hundred and Fifty Snowflakes.

And I sent them off with this note.

I couldn’t be prouder of my dedicated little philanthropist.

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God bless all of the families affected by Sandy Hook. Here’s hoping we all have a very peaceful and healthy new year.