Today is the 10th anniversary of World Down Syndrome Day!  Every year on this special day, events and celebrations are organized around the world to promote acceptance of individuals with Down Syndrome. Down Syndrome occurs when a baby is born with 3 copies of the 21st chromosome. So March 21st, 3-21, we celebrate and raise awareness.

The official colors for WDSD are BLUE and YELLOW.  You  may see lots of blue and yellow today.  You may also see lots of  brightly colored socks, mismatched socks or even extra socks to signify the extra chromosome people with Down Syndrome carry. You can show your support for all those who have been blessed with an extra chromosome by wearing Blue or Yellow today and by donning ‘crazy socks’.

Our local Down Syndrome organization is hosting a WDSD Dance.  We will have bounce houses, a clown, a D.J, costumes, crazy socks, food, cake and tons of fun. There are 60 countries currently embracing World Down Syndrome Day with festivals, run/walks, hot air balloon events, museum outings, 2 day long celebrations and more.

There’s even something new added to all the fun this year.  The Down Syndrome community will be celebrating a little extra love by finding exciting, creative opportunities to spread random acts of kindness all around town. The goodwill has already started. Families are embracing this new tradition and posting pictures of their random acts on a Facebook page specifically created for fostering kindness.

I was so excited to learn of this new addition to WDSD.  What a great way to get our kids involved in sharing joy and making a difference for someone else.  What a great way to spread cheer and teach selflessness.  This will be a first for Josiah and us.  This is a tradition I’d love to continue every year. Since I only learned of it yesterday, we will start small.  Perhaps 1-2 random acts this year.  Next year we can plan ahead and do a few more.  Eventually, it would be such fun to start on March 1 and do a random act each day until WDSD, totaling 21 kind acts in all.

Feel free to join in on the adventure.  The rules are simple.

1. On March 21, participants can choose to wear Blue or Yellow, or a shirt that says something about Down syndrome. Don’t own one? That’s okay!
2. Choose an act of kindness. Make it simple and fun. Maybe try for one to three random acts on WDSD.
3. Print out, or handwrite, the postcard (below) and give that out along with the random act of kindness.
4. Take pictures of your random act of kindness! Post those pictures and stories on social media with the hashtag #WDSD15.

And if you do join in, won’t you please comment below?  Maybe even post a picture?  We’d love to see how you made a difference today to honor all those with a little something extra!