Hot cocoa for Rett syndrome.

Months ago, a good friend's daughter (who has a sister with Rett syndrome) came up with the brilliant idea to have a hot cocoa stand to raise money for the International Rett Syndrome Foundation. She and her family and friends built a real homemade stand, then decorated it with rainbows, etc. And finally, a few weeks ago, we, the parents, were able to pull together the rest of the details: baking cookies and brownies, making hot cocoa, putting up signs, and spreading the word.

The result? Drink for a Cure, so named by 9-year-old organizer Simran. Only one of her many big ideas. And it was a success!



The real stars were the Rett siblings, Calvin and Simran. They were a bit shy at first, but by the end of the afternoon, they were flagging down passers-by and, um, somewhat aggressively passing out fliers about Rett syndrome. But no one was too put out because they were being attacked by cute kids with a good cause. In the end, we raised something like $1,100, including some online donations.

Calvin and Simran hard at work:



Violet had tons of fun, too. Here she is with her Daddy and some pals: