small print (I'm stepping up now to my pedestal, where, fortunately for most of the world, it won't interrupt much. But it will get the issues off my chest)
I have to admit, straight up, that I am lazy and undisciplined. And our upstairs generally tends toward cold when the temperature is cold outside. And we own a down comforter. At five a.m., my bed never feels most cozy. But it works well to get up at this time. And so after I sometimes help Mark pack his lunch and breakfast, it's a good idea for me to not head back to bed. So the point is, while I enjoy warm beds and sleep, there are far more profitable things for me to do with my time. In fact, almost every time I hear someone moaning about how little uninterrupted sleep they get, I think of a quote I heard once. A very old lady, in her 90s, who had raised several children mentioned that sleep was overrated and she intended to sleep when she was old and in the home. Since we read the Little House books fairly often, I often remind myself that 150 years ago, the modern convenience of a furnace that heated the whole house didn't exist yet in the average home. Nor did house insulation. In addition to that, I have undisciplined children who were never taught at a young age to go get in their beds and sleep many hours on end at just the snap of my fingers. Therefore, they get up at night sometimes. Sometimes they are needy and need to be held. Sometimes they get scared. Sometimes they cough all night. I guess those are things that come with children. Sleep is good in a warm bed with a down comforter, but some things are more important. For now.
Which is why I get slightly annoyed at the massive amounts of griping among parents at their babies and small children who don't let them sleep 10 hours uninterrupted.
Which leads me to wonder this: if you wanted a perfectly predictable life, why did you have children? Keep a goldfish. When they kick off, you pitch them out. They don't talk or cry or ask you to tie their shoes and zip their coat or request a glass of milk. In fact you only really need to feed them once a week and if you don't, they aren't going to complain. And goldfish never close their eyes to sleep.
My second complaint lies with giving to charity. Apparently the current trend is to be down on Operation Christmas Child boxes. They promote American consumerism and the organization itself has some issues. I guess they've been known to switch items from one box to another. The poor children who might get those boxes might have been the slave labor that put together the cheap plastic junky toys in the boxes they receive. Those are all probably good points. Some are also concerned about the political correctness of connecting the sharing of the Gospel with getting a box of hygiene items and toys. To top it all off, the founder of the organization once equated a certain world religion that is known for blowing people up and the word "evil". Scandalous really.
But I guess I'd rather give and think that maybe the recipient who was getting the toothbrush and sparkling toothgel I packed in a shoebox, wouldn't normally get such things otherwise.
My real problem with giving involves the gift giving campaign that my county is heading up. The newspaper that came today had a story on the front. The same advertisement was hanging up on the church bulletin board. I still remember following mom around the store picking out things for one of those children when I was younger. These needy children has specific wants. Not just any old shoebox of goods would do. Mom said later that she was buying things for other people's children that she probably wouldn't buy for hers. A few years ago, I was waiting near the doors of a store where a tree was set up with tags listing specific gifts that specific children of specific ages wanted. Really, you need a video game system. A DS or DX or whatever it was called was at the top of the list of things you were asking random strangers to give you to make you feel loved and wanted. While your parents watch TV with more stations than I could afford and you talk on your own cell phone.
Yes, my criticism does lie in a deep-seated problem I have with giving where there isn't a need. Perhaps I need to look around for some place that needs volunteers to read books to children as gifts or ties shoes and changes diapers free of charge. Is there anyone looking for volunteers to supervise playdough play or to be available at whim to fill glasses of milk?
I guess I'm still going to fill up those two red and green boxes the kids brought home from school. Sam's been asking when we can go fill them. Priya wants to make sure that this year, we do one for a boy and one for a girl. I still count a hairbrush and pony holders, hard candy and colored pencils as needs. I want my kids to know that much of the world lives on very little. I don't want them to think even for a second that Christmas is about making a large list of wants and expecting to see those things in wrapping paper on Christmas Day.
Maybe the heart of the issue lies in this: when a person or group sees a need and rallies some others to fulfill the need instead of petitioning the county commissioners to lend a bit more cash or the state legislators to ramp up the welfare allowance, things are done more efficiently.
(I am now stepping down from the podium. There is a massive pile of clothes to be tackled in the basement)
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