I just got an email from a friend. He and I inquire on each other's lives about every three months. He asked me, "What's up?" and I told him about Boy. And I told him about Husband's surprise ER visit. My friend said that he didn't need to know about Husband's ER visit and my news about Boy is repetitive.
So I told him my life isn't that interesting so I don't have a lot to say.
Why do people expect that things would get suddenly interesting? Like in the midst of exhaustedly being a Stay at Home Mom, I'd become CEO of a corporation. It's not a stretch when it comes to responsibilities but I don't think that Yahoo! would be asking for me to take over for Terry Semel because I can change Boy's diaper while he is asleep on his stomach.
So people, when you ask your Mommy friends "what's up?" and hear about their kids, the stain they still can't get out of the rug, don't say "same old shit, different day" to them. We are aware that our lives are friggin' boring compared to jousting the corporate black knights each day or jaunting to Miami Beach for a week for a Cuban festival.
Uh oh. Boy sounds like he's got a nasty case of diarrhea in his diaper...
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Gift giving made simple
Husband is about to go visit friends in his hometown in a couple of weeks. I am happy he's going to visit his friends (it's too far for us to cart Boy - a long flight then a plane change) for a week. But what I dread is the amazing amount of stuff he'll bring home for Boy.
They mean well. Most of the people who give Boy gifts mean well. But they give us toys that end up being given to charity because Boy has no interest in them. Boy would rather play with an empty soda or juice bottle than play with a stuffed animal or a plastic truck. His interests aren't to the pretty coloured Fisher Price aisle at Target but the gadgets I get for the kitchen. Or the box of tissues I get. Anything but actual toys.
Okay, that's not entirely true. Boy does like Legos. We get him rogue Legos from the Lego Store (bags of random Legos they sell for $8 for two big bags) which he loves to play with.
So, little tips from a Mommy to the rest of you well meaning souls who want to give gifts to a friend/relative's little person (whether it's a baby or a toddler or a child):
1. Toys are great but make sure you know the child well enough to buy for it. The Barbie penthouse you sent for little Astrid is great but does Astrid play with Barbie? Or is she two? Or the mechanized mini Humvee you sent Tyler? Who lives in an apartment complex? And is nine months old? If you plan on sending a really nice gift, please send a gift receipt. It doesn't have the price you paid on it but they can always find out even if you don't. It makes it easier for the parents when they return it to whatever store you got it at (and they also don't have to try to figure out where you bought it). Don't try making up to the child the gifts you never got as a child.
2. Clothes. Just because Ilsa is 18 months old doesn't mean that she is wearing 18 months clothing. Ilsa could possibly wearing 9 to 12 month clothing. Or in Boy's case, he was wearing 24 month to 2T clothing. Always buy larger. Trust me, the kid will grow into it. And the parents will thank you later for buying a T shirt or outfit they can grow into. (Sub tip: end of season sales can get you some great deals on gifts - buy two sizes larger than the child needs to be safe so they can be worn for the season after).
3. Gift cards are a great gift. Do you think it's tacky - like giving money(in some cultures, giving money isn't tacky but considered the correct thing to do)? It isn't. A gift card for an infant for Target, KMart, Babies/Toys R Us, Costco/Sam's Club is really a blessing because trust me, the little angels need diapers and formula like you wouldn't believe. Kids until they are about three or four, haven't a clue what their birthday is or Christmas or whatever gift giving holiday your embrace is. Their parents do. Giving their parents a gift card helps them dress their little angels or whatever. Giving a gift card for a child over the age of four is great because the kids feel like they are getting money to buy what they want and it's empowering for them. I give gift cards to my friends kids - but I don't just hand them a greeting card with the card inside. I try to buy something to put them in. An expensive wallet or purse (I plan to pick up some plastic wallets in Vegas for Christmas gift cards). I give my cousin's nine year old a gift card for Barnes and Noble for his birthday and Christmas because he loves to read and I want to encourage that. Instead of putting it in a card, I buy an interesting classic or a book a friend has recommended and put the card in it. It's a double gift.
Okay, the topic of travel. We met up with some friends this spring in a city half way between where Husband grew up and where we live. His friends told us to keep a lot of space in our suitcase for the gifts they were bringing. As it is when we travel, I always have to take our largest suitcase to just pack up clothes and various Boy required things with a tiny bit of my stuff (I have to carry MY clothes in a carry on). So to my horror, I watched as they walked into our hotel room with a three foot by three foot box that contained two large construction toys, a 'baby' pillow, a large stuffed animal and a sweater. And stuff for both Husband and I. We had to ship the construction toys home. We had to split all the stuff they gave us between my overstuffed suitcase (that ended up nearly five pounds over limit and I couldn't move anything into my overstuffed carry on), Husband's suitcase (he left from that city to a business trip for two days) and my Mom's suitcase.
(Post script on these friends: they are expecting their first child at the beginning of next year. Husband has already said if we meet up with them again, we are going to buy the biggest stuffed animal we can find to give them to take home. It probably will piss them off but we'll remind them that's pretty much what they did to us.)
If you plan to meet up with friends or family on a joint trip, try NOT to bring anything that can't be easily packed in a suitcase or carry on for the trip home. We're meeting up with my cousin and her family in Las Vegas in a week. She has two daughters that are elementary school aged. I bought them each an inexpensive backpack that can double as a cool carry on and put in small items that they can pack if they choose to not take the backpacks home. They have hair clips, bangle bracelets, beaded necklaces (all in a $1 make up bag I picked up at a Japanese gee gaw store), disposable film cameras, notepads, maple syrup from the town near where Husband grew up. Silly things that should amuse them for a bit.
Another cousin of mine recently returned from a trip back home to Korea. Before they left, I assembled for his three boys three inexpensive backpacks that I bought last year at the post Back to School sales. I spent the last year thinking about things to get two kindergarteners and one nine year old. The twins got activity books to prepare them for kindergarten along with a new box of crayons, stickers, beginner chopsticks, colouring books, games and a cool key chain for their backpack zippers. For the nine year old, I bought a set of Jules Verne books and HG Wells books, a blank notebook to use as a journal along with a pencil case with a dozen sharpened pencils and pens, beginner chopsticks and a puzzle book. I told their parents that the backpacks were cheap and they could destroy them or lose them, it didn't matter but I wanted to give them something that would keep them busy until they got at least a third of the way across the Pacific.
The bottom line on gift giving for kids is that you don't have to have a Special Occasion. You can gifts because you think they'd like it. A cool t shirt or a book is always good. But if you really want to give them something they like, get to know them and really get them something they will like. If you don't know them or don't want to ask, please get a gift card. It saves you the embarrassment of later asking how Alex liked the Tickle Me Elmo Extreme you got for them and finding out that Alex doesn't like Elmo so Elmo got exchanged for something else.
(If you live in a different country, start with a t shirt from your hometown then when you arrive in your host's country, have them take you places that they normally shop and offer to pick up a box of diapers or pick up a gift card. Heck, even some grocery stores in the US and Canada carry Master Card, Visa and American Express as well as store gift cards in various denominations that you can give.)
They mean well. Most of the people who give Boy gifts mean well. But they give us toys that end up being given to charity because Boy has no interest in them. Boy would rather play with an empty soda or juice bottle than play with a stuffed animal or a plastic truck. His interests aren't to the pretty coloured Fisher Price aisle at Target but the gadgets I get for the kitchen. Or the box of tissues I get. Anything but actual toys.
Okay, that's not entirely true. Boy does like Legos. We get him rogue Legos from the Lego Store (bags of random Legos they sell for $8 for two big bags) which he loves to play with.
So, little tips from a Mommy to the rest of you well meaning souls who want to give gifts to a friend/relative's little person (whether it's a baby or a toddler or a child):
1. Toys are great but make sure you know the child well enough to buy for it. The Barbie penthouse you sent for little Astrid is great but does Astrid play with Barbie? Or is she two? Or the mechanized mini Humvee you sent Tyler? Who lives in an apartment complex? And is nine months old? If you plan on sending a really nice gift, please send a gift receipt. It doesn't have the price you paid on it but they can always find out even if you don't. It makes it easier for the parents when they return it to whatever store you got it at (and they also don't have to try to figure out where you bought it). Don't try making up to the child the gifts you never got as a child.
2. Clothes. Just because Ilsa is 18 months old doesn't mean that she is wearing 18 months clothing. Ilsa could possibly wearing 9 to 12 month clothing. Or in Boy's case, he was wearing 24 month to 2T clothing. Always buy larger. Trust me, the kid will grow into it. And the parents will thank you later for buying a T shirt or outfit they can grow into. (Sub tip: end of season sales can get you some great deals on gifts - buy two sizes larger than the child needs to be safe so they can be worn for the season after).
3. Gift cards are a great gift. Do you think it's tacky - like giving money(in some cultures, giving money isn't tacky but considered the correct thing to do)? It isn't. A gift card for an infant for Target, KMart, Babies/Toys R Us, Costco/Sam's Club is really a blessing because trust me, the little angels need diapers and formula like you wouldn't believe. Kids until they are about three or four, haven't a clue what their birthday is or Christmas or whatever gift giving holiday your embrace is. Their parents do. Giving their parents a gift card helps them dress their little angels or whatever. Giving a gift card for a child over the age of four is great because the kids feel like they are getting money to buy what they want and it's empowering for them. I give gift cards to my friends kids - but I don't just hand them a greeting card with the card inside. I try to buy something to put them in. An expensive wallet or purse (I plan to pick up some plastic wallets in Vegas for Christmas gift cards). I give my cousin's nine year old a gift card for Barnes and Noble for his birthday and Christmas because he loves to read and I want to encourage that. Instead of putting it in a card, I buy an interesting classic or a book a friend has recommended and put the card in it. It's a double gift.
Okay, the topic of travel. We met up with some friends this spring in a city half way between where Husband grew up and where we live. His friends told us to keep a lot of space in our suitcase for the gifts they were bringing. As it is when we travel, I always have to take our largest suitcase to just pack up clothes and various Boy required things with a tiny bit of my stuff (I have to carry MY clothes in a carry on). So to my horror, I watched as they walked into our hotel room with a three foot by three foot box that contained two large construction toys, a 'baby' pillow, a large stuffed animal and a sweater. And stuff for both Husband and I. We had to ship the construction toys home. We had to split all the stuff they gave us between my overstuffed suitcase (that ended up nearly five pounds over limit and I couldn't move anything into my overstuffed carry on), Husband's suitcase (he left from that city to a business trip for two days) and my Mom's suitcase.
(Post script on these friends: they are expecting their first child at the beginning of next year. Husband has already said if we meet up with them again, we are going to buy the biggest stuffed animal we can find to give them to take home. It probably will piss them off but we'll remind them that's pretty much what they did to us.)
If you plan to meet up with friends or family on a joint trip, try NOT to bring anything that can't be easily packed in a suitcase or carry on for the trip home. We're meeting up with my cousin and her family in Las Vegas in a week. She has two daughters that are elementary school aged. I bought them each an inexpensive backpack that can double as a cool carry on and put in small items that they can pack if they choose to not take the backpacks home. They have hair clips, bangle bracelets, beaded necklaces (all in a $1 make up bag I picked up at a Japanese gee gaw store), disposable film cameras, notepads, maple syrup from the town near where Husband grew up. Silly things that should amuse them for a bit.
Another cousin of mine recently returned from a trip back home to Korea. Before they left, I assembled for his three boys three inexpensive backpacks that I bought last year at the post Back to School sales. I spent the last year thinking about things to get two kindergarteners and one nine year old. The twins got activity books to prepare them for kindergarten along with a new box of crayons, stickers, beginner chopsticks, colouring books, games and a cool key chain for their backpack zippers. For the nine year old, I bought a set of Jules Verne books and HG Wells books, a blank notebook to use as a journal along with a pencil case with a dozen sharpened pencils and pens, beginner chopsticks and a puzzle book. I told their parents that the backpacks were cheap and they could destroy them or lose them, it didn't matter but I wanted to give them something that would keep them busy until they got at least a third of the way across the Pacific.
The bottom line on gift giving for kids is that you don't have to have a Special Occasion. You can gifts because you think they'd like it. A cool t shirt or a book is always good. But if you really want to give them something they like, get to know them and really get them something they will like. If you don't know them or don't want to ask, please get a gift card. It saves you the embarrassment of later asking how Alex liked the Tickle Me Elmo Extreme you got for them and finding out that Alex doesn't like Elmo so Elmo got exchanged for something else.
(If you live in a different country, start with a t shirt from your hometown then when you arrive in your host's country, have them take you places that they normally shop and offer to pick up a box of diapers or pick up a gift card. Heck, even some grocery stores in the US and Canada carry Master Card, Visa and American Express as well as store gift cards in various denominations that you can give.)
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Monkey see, monkey do
One of my big pet peeves are parents who get testy about how other children are rude to their little rude kids. I fully admit that Boy isn't going to win any awards for being the politest child in the hills but I also know he's 21 months old and I barely can get him to understand that I'm serious about his diaper change.
We were at Costco yesterday, stocking up on all the minutae of being a family when I saw it again. People taking their carts and parking them just wherever. Blocking up parking spots that other people could use or making it damned hard to get out of their cars when they slide into a spot. There are two cart corrals in each aisle so it's not like it's hard to find a place to deposit your cart. But they have excuses. I'm late. It's too far to walk. I can't leave my baby in the hot car.
When I was waddling around pregnant, I actually timed how long it took for me to get the cart from my SUV (generally parked near the back - this is before they put in a second cart corral in each aisle) after unloading to the cart corral and walking back. 45 seconds. Not kidding. So, I used to put Boy in the SUV when he was very little, roll the windows down on the SUV so that he'd be well aired and took the cart back. Now that Boy is older, I generally take him with me and carry him or let him walk back to the SUV. Not hard.
I've heard about someone saying that their are afraid that they will be carjacked and their child spirited off by some frothing mouthed freak. When I lived in LA, a SUV was carjacked out of a Costco parking lot with a child inside. The woman pleaded with the carjacker to let her get her toddler out but the guy whipped her and took her Land Rover. The toddler was found a couple of hours later in the Rover in a not so great part of town, unharmed but needing a diaper change and some milk. A carjacker won't wait for you to remove your little angel even if you're loading your vehicle with a gross of applesauce. They want your vehicle. So whether or not you're in the vehicle or taking the cart back isn't going to matter.
Another argument I heard was that someone was afraid their child would be snatched by babynappers while they were taking the cart back. Most vehicles have remote locking from a key fob. Use it?
Children learn bad behaviours more from us than television. I sincerely do not believe that the Teletubbies are teaching our kids to use the 'f' bomb as much as we are when some jackass cuts us off on the 280. They learn from us prejudices and how to be rude to others. It's up to use to teach our kids to be kind to each other by example. Sure, it's not easy when some jackass decides to get in the express lane at Safeway with a full cart and write a check and you're late getting home to make dinner. But we have to be able to explain to our children that we are mad at the action rather than the entire ethnic race of the person ahead of us (or the fact the person is old, or male or female etc).
Being a good world citizen starts at home. Learning basic manners. Learning that the world is a big place and that we all need to be good to each other because we all live here. Pick up after yourself, not just at home, but out in the world. It's not 'someone else's job' to take your cart to the cart corral or to pick up the bottle of Dasani you threw out the window of your Prius. It's up to each of us to do our part. As hard as it is to imagine. Teach your kids 'thank you' and 'please' and use it with them. If they hear you saying it to each other, then they learn. It's simple.
We were at Costco yesterday, stocking up on all the minutae of being a family when I saw it again. People taking their carts and parking them just wherever. Blocking up parking spots that other people could use or making it damned hard to get out of their cars when they slide into a spot. There are two cart corrals in each aisle so it's not like it's hard to find a place to deposit your cart. But they have excuses. I'm late. It's too far to walk. I can't leave my baby in the hot car.
When I was waddling around pregnant, I actually timed how long it took for me to get the cart from my SUV (generally parked near the back - this is before they put in a second cart corral in each aisle) after unloading to the cart corral and walking back. 45 seconds. Not kidding. So, I used to put Boy in the SUV when he was very little, roll the windows down on the SUV so that he'd be well aired and took the cart back. Now that Boy is older, I generally take him with me and carry him or let him walk back to the SUV. Not hard.
I've heard about someone saying that their are afraid that they will be carjacked and their child spirited off by some frothing mouthed freak. When I lived in LA, a SUV was carjacked out of a Costco parking lot with a child inside. The woman pleaded with the carjacker to let her get her toddler out but the guy whipped her and took her Land Rover. The toddler was found a couple of hours later in the Rover in a not so great part of town, unharmed but needing a diaper change and some milk. A carjacker won't wait for you to remove your little angel even if you're loading your vehicle with a gross of applesauce. They want your vehicle. So whether or not you're in the vehicle or taking the cart back isn't going to matter.
Another argument I heard was that someone was afraid their child would be snatched by babynappers while they were taking the cart back. Most vehicles have remote locking from a key fob. Use it?
Children learn bad behaviours more from us than television. I sincerely do not believe that the Teletubbies are teaching our kids to use the 'f' bomb as much as we are when some jackass cuts us off on the 280. They learn from us prejudices and how to be rude to others. It's up to use to teach our kids to be kind to each other by example. Sure, it's not easy when some jackass decides to get in the express lane at Safeway with a full cart and write a check and you're late getting home to make dinner. But we have to be able to explain to our children that we are mad at the action rather than the entire ethnic race of the person ahead of us (or the fact the person is old, or male or female etc).
Being a good world citizen starts at home. Learning basic manners. Learning that the world is a big place and that we all need to be good to each other because we all live here. Pick up after yourself, not just at home, but out in the world. It's not 'someone else's job' to take your cart to the cart corral or to pick up the bottle of Dasani you threw out the window of your Prius. It's up to each of us to do our part. As hard as it is to imagine. Teach your kids 'thank you' and 'please' and use it with them. If they hear you saying it to each other, then they learn. It's simple.
Friday, July 6, 2007
Coupons from Kimberley Clark
I get mailings from Kimberley Clark aka Huggies occasionally. God knows I can use them with the way Boy goes through diapers. They send an email every couple of months telling me what developmental milestones Boy should be at and it's been nice. I suggest to all my pregnant friends that they sign up for these things just for the coupons.
Today I got the usual coupon book with tips on how to potty train Boy. Damn. I thought we'd wait until his second birthday to kick in the fun quotient by buying him a potty to get him used to the concept but no, they want him in potty training pants now. I flipped to the coupon page and there are two coupons for Huggies Pull Ups (training pants), Huggies diapers, Huggies wipes and then.....wait for it.....Kotex pads and such.
Is Kimberley Clark saying that my feminine protection is the same as my son's diapers? Great. Like I'm not feeling a little weird that Boy is trying to put on my various anti aging agents on his face every day after watching me his diaper is the equivalent of my pads. Fabulous.
What a world.
Today I got the usual coupon book with tips on how to potty train Boy. Damn. I thought we'd wait until his second birthday to kick in the fun quotient by buying him a potty to get him used to the concept but no, they want him in potty training pants now. I flipped to the coupon page and there are two coupons for Huggies Pull Ups (training pants), Huggies diapers, Huggies wipes and then.....wait for it.....Kotex pads and such.
Is Kimberley Clark saying that my feminine protection is the same as my son's diapers? Great. Like I'm not feeling a little weird that Boy is trying to put on my various anti aging agents on his face every day after watching me his diaper is the equivalent of my pads. Fabulous.
What a world.
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Help a teacher out
Has anyone considered that our schools systems are being required to do more than teach kids the basics anymore?
We have our President's "No Child Left Behind" which is shoving kids through the system. We have the politically correct police who want every textbook to overemphasize what happened to non white males who got clobbered by the white males who blazed their trail to create the US at the expense of telling the story of our this country came to be. (Yes, I know that the Native Americans got their ass beat and are now suffering the consequences of what happened - about four generations back, my Grandparents were trying to figure out how the hell they ended up in a wooden house instead of living off the land like their parents did so I got me some Cherokee blood in my veins)
My Dad used to co-lead an Explorer scout troop. He did a lecture about the founding fathers. He wrote on the blackboard "4 July 1776" and asked the kids what it meant. Not a single kid knew. It wasn't taught in school. The signing of the Declaration of Independence. These days they spend more time talking about how this magnificently written act of defiance and freedom was written by a slave owner and signed by other slave owners. There isn't a lot of emphasis about what happened and why.
I remember in university, I had a modern history class that covered from the year 1900 to present day. The instructor went along fine until he got to World War II and the Holocaust. We spent five weeks discussing the Holocaust. Five weeks. It wasn't until I had to take a second history class that I found out that there had also been a holocaust in other places. That other people had suffered the horrors of being take to the genocide dance. Perhaps not in the numbers of the Jewish people but according to this one instructor, there were none other and if there were, it wasn't as important.
But I want to talk about the public school system at the elementary school level. How kids today are not so much being raised by parents but by their teachers. How teachers are now not only having to teach little Johnny and Susie 1-2-3 and A-B-C but they are also having to teach them how to say 'please' and 'thank you' plus monitor them for abuse, psychological issues and possibilities of being a sociopath. I know that there are a lot of parents out there who are working long work weeks but at the expense of not being able to teach their own children how to be civilized little beings? Wow.
And as much as it has been hammered in the media about how a teacher - who is shaping the minds of our youth - makes bupkis compared to a sports star or celebrity, no one seems to get that something can be done about it. Everyone assumes this means a raise in taxes when you talk about trying to help a teacher out but let's think grassroots level, people. Let's start with something easy to do.
Next month, all the office supply stores and general merchandise stores like Target, KMart and WalMart are going to be doing their Back To School sales. Some of them have outrageously great deals on basic supplies. I like to stock up on crayons to give to friends' kids when they come over to draw and take home with them when they are done.
Why doesn't everyone pick up a list - whether you've got a kid in school or not - from the school nearest them to find out what is required? The schools some times have them at their websites and these lists are often in the stores also. If you've got a spare $10, pick up what you can and take it to the administration building of the school and tell them you want to donate. Do it because you give a rat's ass about the future of the kids at the school. Do it because a teacher's miniscule salary must cover not only their family's basic needs but also the needs of their classroom.
Or even better, if you do have a kid in school, throw the teacher a shower. Have your child invite classmates over to give their teacher great gifts that they can use in the classroom. This way your child learns that giving is a great thing and it can be fun as well as being able to give a teacher a break.
Sure, bake sale might not be able to raise enough funds to build a new multi-purpose room but it can raise some funds to be used to help a teacher or library stock up on much needed books and supplies.
Give it some thought then do it.
I always planned to help Boy's teachers out when he went off to school. Pick up some extras for the classroom. It's something that I know would be appreciated and needed. I have too many friends that are teachers that have told me how hard it is to take care of their own needs as well as the needs of their students. So how tough is it to kick down an extra $10? Skip a latte. Eat a sandwich from home once.
Let's help a teacher out.
We have our President's "No Child Left Behind" which is shoving kids through the system. We have the politically correct police who want every textbook to overemphasize what happened to non white males who got clobbered by the white males who blazed their trail to create the US at the expense of telling the story of our this country came to be. (Yes, I know that the Native Americans got their ass beat and are now suffering the consequences of what happened - about four generations back, my Grandparents were trying to figure out how the hell they ended up in a wooden house instead of living off the land like their parents did so I got me some Cherokee blood in my veins)
My Dad used to co-lead an Explorer scout troop. He did a lecture about the founding fathers. He wrote on the blackboard "4 July 1776" and asked the kids what it meant. Not a single kid knew. It wasn't taught in school. The signing of the Declaration of Independence. These days they spend more time talking about how this magnificently written act of defiance and freedom was written by a slave owner and signed by other slave owners. There isn't a lot of emphasis about what happened and why.
I remember in university, I had a modern history class that covered from the year 1900 to present day. The instructor went along fine until he got to World War II and the Holocaust. We spent five weeks discussing the Holocaust. Five weeks. It wasn't until I had to take a second history class that I found out that there had also been a holocaust in other places. That other people had suffered the horrors of being take to the genocide dance. Perhaps not in the numbers of the Jewish people but according to this one instructor, there were none other and if there were, it wasn't as important.
But I want to talk about the public school system at the elementary school level. How kids today are not so much being raised by parents but by their teachers. How teachers are now not only having to teach little Johnny and Susie 1-2-3 and A-B-C but they are also having to teach them how to say 'please' and 'thank you' plus monitor them for abuse, psychological issues and possibilities of being a sociopath. I know that there are a lot of parents out there who are working long work weeks but at the expense of not being able to teach their own children how to be civilized little beings? Wow.
And as much as it has been hammered in the media about how a teacher - who is shaping the minds of our youth - makes bupkis compared to a sports star or celebrity, no one seems to get that something can be done about it. Everyone assumes this means a raise in taxes when you talk about trying to help a teacher out but let's think grassroots level, people. Let's start with something easy to do.
Next month, all the office supply stores and general merchandise stores like Target, KMart and WalMart are going to be doing their Back To School sales. Some of them have outrageously great deals on basic supplies. I like to stock up on crayons to give to friends' kids when they come over to draw and take home with them when they are done.
Why doesn't everyone pick up a list - whether you've got a kid in school or not - from the school nearest them to find out what is required? The schools some times have them at their websites and these lists are often in the stores also. If you've got a spare $10, pick up what you can and take it to the administration building of the school and tell them you want to donate. Do it because you give a rat's ass about the future of the kids at the school. Do it because a teacher's miniscule salary must cover not only their family's basic needs but also the needs of their classroom.
Or even better, if you do have a kid in school, throw the teacher a shower. Have your child invite classmates over to give their teacher great gifts that they can use in the classroom. This way your child learns that giving is a great thing and it can be fun as well as being able to give a teacher a break.
Sure, bake sale might not be able to raise enough funds to build a new multi-purpose room but it can raise some funds to be used to help a teacher or library stock up on much needed books and supplies.
Give it some thought then do it.
I always planned to help Boy's teachers out when he went off to school. Pick up some extras for the classroom. It's something that I know would be appreciated and needed. I have too many friends that are teachers that have told me how hard it is to take care of their own needs as well as the needs of their students. So how tough is it to kick down an extra $10? Skip a latte. Eat a sandwich from home once.
Let's help a teacher out.
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