October Letter-Writing Topics

Wow! October is here already! It's time for another letter-writing post! Here are some ideas to get you started.

1. Parents. My parents both have birthdays in October, so I am sure I will be writing about that. But even if your parents don't have birthdays right now, you can still write and tell your kids more about them. Tell them about their likes and interests. If they are married, you can share how long they have been together- or even tell your child how they met! I also think it would be fun to send both old and new pictures of your parents to your kids. I had this idea this weekend when Brandon's aunt wrote a facebook post about her 33rd wedding anniversary. She posted some pictures from their wedding, and then some recent pictures taken at their youngest daughter's wedding earlier in the summer. The pictures were a lot of fun to see! 
2. Harvest  Festivals. Don't even bother writing about Halloween to your kids. Compassion does frown on it, and anyway, it's pretty hard to explain in acceptable and/or understandable terms. "We have a holiday where people like to dress up as scary things and then get lots of candy. Also there are skulls, ghosts, and vampires." Yeah....it's not going to go over well, so just skip it. But you can talk about things that are sort of related. You can write about pumpkins and explain that sometimes there are special pumpkins that are used as art- these pumpkins aren't for eating, but they can be carved with designs and a candle is placed inside to light up the carving. If your church has a harvest festival, you can also talk about that, too-  just skip most of the Halloween ties. You could say "every year in October my church has a party for the local children. Some of them dress up in fun outfits. They play games and sometimes receive some candy or other small treats." 
3. Fall treats. Discussing food with your sponsor child can be tricky and sensitive, but this is one way that you can talk about food without bringing up any awkward issues. Most of our kids have at least some familiarity with farming and growing fruits and vegetables. Have you ever been apple picking? This is usually the time of year that people do that! Same with pumpkin picking. Tell your child about some of the things people make with this produce. Apple cider and pumpkin pies are easy things to describe to our kids (how they look and taste, and most importantly, how they smell!) that won't sound insensitive. 
4. Teachers. October is home to International World Teacher's Day, which I honestly didn't know what a thing. You don't have to tell your child about this little holiday, but you could still ask about his or her teacher and tell them about a teacher who had an impact on your life. 
5. Local wildlife. Did you know that October is Squirrel Awareness Month? I didn't either until a few minutes ago, but there you have it. I actually wanted to share this topic with you even if it wasn't directly related to October. Recently Victor wrote to me saying he wanted to learn more about my country. I asked him what he wanted to know about, and then told him I would love to know more about his country. I asked him about the animals that live near him, and then I told him a little bit about what kinds of animals live near me. I listed things like deer, skunks, cardinals, raccoons, and of course, squirrels. Then I thought that Victor probably didn't know what half those things were, so I printed up a little guide. I found pictures of some local animals and labeled them, then at the top of the page I wrote "Kentucky Wildlife." I even printed it on cardstock so it would last longer. I am thinking about making other sheets like these to show other things from my state and country!