Every year as the holidays approach, my mailbox is stuffed with solicitations from dozens of charities. So many charities, and they all sound so worthy! If only I were a bazillionaire, I could give to them all. But I'm not, so I have to be picky.

Fortunately I have a little help. There are rating systems that give you a snapshot of how charities use their money so you know exactly how it's being used. And I have a few other guidelines I follow.

Looking for service opportunities for the whole family? Volunteering is a profound way to teach your children about gratitude, empathy, and selfless giving -- especially around the holidays. Helping out at a soup kitchen is one of the first ideas people get, and that's definitely a worthy cause. But there are many other ways for you and your family to give back. 

Here are a few suggestions. Keep in mind for all of these: Don't just show up! Always call ahead and find out what the organization actually needs, whether they'll allow kids to help, and what other groups you can work with to organize a volunteer day.

If your kids are like every single other child around the world, then they probably jump up and down and get pretty excited simply from hearing the word "holidays," you know, because they associate the holiday season with getting plenty of presents and all sorts of fun goodies. (C'mon, don't like. Your kid LOVES gifts just as much as my kid and every other kid does.)

And while it's definitely fun to see our children's faces light up when they tear into all of the lovely items that took us hours to wrap -- it's still important to teach them that giving back can be just as much fun as receiving.

Here are 5 ways to get your kids excited about giving to others -- once they realize how rewarding it is to spread some kindness to someone else, they'll be hooked on giving for sure.

When Superstorm Sandy ravaged the East Coast she affected hundreds of thousands of people. She flooded homes and left schools powerless and flooded. For many children, she has completely displaced them and left them scared and alone with no home and no school.

As a mom, this image breaks my heart and I have spent the week trying to find as many ways to help as I can. Obviously, I wish I could feed, clothe and house every child from baby through teenager who needs it. But that's not possible.

Even though I can't physically go and hug every one of the children affected by this storm, I can send money, supplies and warm coats to their parents to help take care of them. Any mom would and should do the same. Here are 8 ways we can help kids affected by Sandy right now:

So often I read the news and see children engaged in negative activities like bullying, violence, drugs, and other things that make me fear both for my young children and for the future of this country. Then along comes someone like 11-year-old Lucy Walkowiak, and I'm reminded of just how many good kids there are out there.

Lucy is extraordinary even. When Hurricane Sandy tore through the upper East Coast last week, millions were left without power. Many of us felt helpless wondering what we could do to help those struggling to get by in the wake, but Lucy did more than wonder. She took action.

We hear a lot about teens bullying each other so it’s nice to hear about some teen boys -- football players no less -- doing the opposite. A 16-year-old girl named Chy Johnson was an easy target at her Arizona high school. A brain disorder causes the teen to speak haltingly and she doesn’t have the social skills needed to climb the clique hierarchy. Bullying was unfortunately a daily and horrific part of her life. Some kids even threw trash at her. But then something extraordinary happened.

This post is sponsored by Target.

For more than a decade, Target has supported the St. Jude mission of finding cures and saving children. Target’s remarkable dedication to the kids of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital® began in 1996 with the company’s commitment to build the hospital’s long-term residential facility, which was designed to be a home away from home for patients and their families. Since opening in 1999, Target House has been a place of comfort for more than 1,500 families as their children battle cancer and other deadly diseases at St. Jude.

Before Hurricane Sandy even hit the Northeast, 61,000 National Guardsmen were on standbywaiting to help out civilian authorities. Now that the damage is abundant, 12,000 of them are on active-duty orders, dedicating their time to providing aid to the hundreds of thousands whose lives have been impacted by the horror storm.

Read on to learn about some of the great relief work that members of our military are doing in the wake of Hurricane Sandy:

The Defense Department has flown 17 aircraft from California to New York complete with Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve crews and power generation equipment to help with the restoration of power in the area.