What 30 something parent could resist a new video podcast from They Might Be Giants? Not this one. Seriously, your kids will love it. Uh, you'll like it, too if you went to high school or junior high school in the eighties. This is well worth a few minutes each Friday night.
A while back some friends of ours became missionaries in the Dominican Republic with Kids Alive International. As we learned about the Kids Alive ministry, we decided that we'd like to participate a little bit. So we sponsored a child. Over the last couple of years we've prayed for him, mailed him letters, and sent him some money. A few days ago we received notice that the boy we've been supporting no longer needs outside financial help. His family has gotten themselves on their feet through the help of Kids Alive and he'll be attending a private school next year. He's on a path of living a better life by the prayers and help of many people. And we'll be continuing to pray for him, even as we now begin to financial support another young person in the Dominican Republic. I'd encourage you to consider supporting Kids Alive International. It's a great ministry doing some wonderful things.
In a recent issue of Parent's Magazine my wife found what seems to be a great website, MarkMakers.org. The idea behind the site is that a parent, friend, grandparent, or whoever gives a child a "gift card" that the child can then use at MarkMakers.org to make charitable purchases. There are different "shops" on the site that allow charitable purchases for Kids In Need, Peace & Justice, Protect the Environment, and more.
For example, in the Fight Hunger and Poverty Shop, a child can use her gift card to "Help People in Need Plant Fruit Trees." They do this by allocating a certain amount of their gift card balance to this need. In the case of this example, the money is given to Trees for Life, a charitable organization that, well, helps people in need plant fruit trees.
You can find a list of all the charities that MarkMakers.org currently works with on the About MarkMakers page. MarkMakers claims that 100% of the money your child designates for a charity goes to that charity. MarkMakers, a 501c, makes its money on the front end of the transaction. When you purchase a gift card for a child, the organization adds a 7% service charge. So a $25.00 gift card would cost the giver of the gift card $1.75 extra - a small price to pay if you ask me.
The only downside of the site I found is that the "About MarkMakers" link needs more information. It seems to me that a charity should be very open about who is behind it. While they give a lot of information about how the site works and who they work with, unfortunately I have no way of finding out who "they" are. Is there a founder? A board? No clue. An organization like this should have a face(s) to connect with their audience. I'd even go so far as to say they ought to have a blog. Since MarkMakers is providing a way for children to connect (though charitable giving) with people around the world, shouldn't they do the basics expected in our web 2.0 world of connecting with their audience? Yes. Maybe that's down the road. For now, MarkMakers should be a serious consideration on your Christmas shopping list.
My second daughter who is in first grade had the opportunity to create an “All About Me” poster for her class. It was a poster on which students color and write. There were some pre-canned questions to answer and some open space to write whatever.
Right so, in order to get to the cute part of this story I have to confess a little family secret. It’s confusing and unsubstantiated. Apparently before my Italian great grandfather became a Christian minister he was slated to take over the family mob business. And before the family mob business started, somewhere in deeper darker shadows of our lineage, there was Austrian royalty. Uh, right. Ssssooooo... my daughters have been told by some family members that they are in actuality princesses. Not the dime-a-dozen pseudo-Disney princesses that trot around suburban malls next to latte-sipping mothers. But the real, uh Austrian, deal. And so among many other interesting facts about herself, my second daughter put on her “All About Me” poster that she is a princess. A real one.
Well, the rest of the kids were quite impressed! We know this because part of the “All About Me” poster process is for the rest of the class to write letters to the “All About Me” student responding to the “All About Me” poster facts. There was a royalty theme that ran throughout the responses. And a few of my favorites are:
“You are so lucky because you are a princess! I wish I were a queen!” - The Teacher
“I like you because you are my friend. I am a prisess to. you are my best best best best best best friend in the world. I like you because you sit next to me.” - Her Best Friend
“I am a prince. I just don’t have the crown! Do you? I hope.” - A Boy
A little while ago I was talking with our oldest daughter and, with a sigh, she told me, "I like everything organized, even though I don't keep it that way."
I know there a lots of other people who feel the same way. Sometimes I wonder if anyone is the opposite, likes things unorganized even though they don't keep it that way? That would be a fascinating person to spend a day with.
The week leading up to our two older daughters return to school was a bit hectic. Yesterday they started school again, and already life feels a little more stable.
Our oldest began 3rd grade. Her teacher is a nice and very organized young woman. We think it is going to be a good year. Maybe too good. Our oldest loves to talk... and talk... and talk. When she’s enjoying herself she’s describing her day. We’re anticipating many words this year.
Our second oldest began 1st grade. Her teacher is famous for her kindness and pedagogical talent. First grade is such a leap. The kids get their own desks. They do real homework. They grow up quite a bit from the kindergarten days. It’s a real joy. A great teacher is a blessing beyond measure for first graders. Our daughter’s teacher is simply amazing. When she saw our daughter she called her by name and told this story. She said that the night before she had a dream that she was looking at her class list and our daughter’s name was not on it. She said in her dream she cried and said that it had to be a mistake. And then told me that in all her years of teaching she’d never had a dream like that.
Of course the girls started school with new first-day-of-school outfits. An aversion to stuff can only go so far. Yet they have the same backpacks as last year. Both are earning money in order to buy new backpacks. The big school item we are discussing is a new desk. I’ve drawn up some plans to turn my oldest daughter’s old IKEA bed (grandma got them bunk beds a couple months ago) into a double desk. It is seriously going to be sweet! Alas, I don’t have a jointer. If you want to build furniture, you need a jointer. Since I’m reading Little House on the Prairie to my first grader, though, I feel convicted by Pa. I’ll need to find a way to get the job done with only my axe. Alas, I don’t have an axe...
In a straight-up fight between my children and stuff, sometimes I fear stuff might win the battle. I worry for them, kind of how I imagine parents of fictional children who get led away to another world worry for their sons and daughters. Worry they might never return to our world, having been overwhelmed in some cosmic struggle. Worry they might just barely survive and scrape their way back to earth, but never be quite the same. I worry how my children will deal with stuff. I could be wrong yet in my mind one special doll rightly shapes a little girl’s soul, but ten-to-twelve special dolls might be her undoing.
We have three daughters and probably more than thirty-six special dolls. We have those dolls. And we have stuffed animals and dress-up clothes and blocks and puzzles and noise-making things and much more, too. We have cabinets all over our house dedicated to toys that our children don’t play with but we don’t throw or give away. We have bins in our garage full of toys. We have floor space around our house covered in toys - not the toys left out but the ones left unused. And I think I can honestly say that we go out of our way to get rid of excess. Perhaps I can even say with some amount of humility that compared to other homes we know of (though not all) we do have less. But that does not feel like comfort so much as hopelessness.
Then just a day ago my eight-year-old came up to me and said, “Sometimes I wish we could live like Marry and Laura. Or like Kaya. I know it would not be easy. And I’d miss things. But we wouldn’t have so much stuff.” And I thought, “Ahhh, how sweet. She sounds like the daughter of the guy who started StuckInStuff.com. Way to go!”
This is kind of an open ended post. Unresolved. I’m sure to return to this topic again and again. As for who wins the battle, I’m ambivalent. Just don’t know. But I do know that most kids are made of tougher stuff than stuff, if you know what I mean. Let’s nurture and pray that the strong will overcome the weak.
First, find the child in the photograph. Next, ask yourself whether you think she will make it through. There is so much stuff for children to navigate in our modern world. Even supposing that you are a neat freak and never let your garage accumulate boundless stuff, the world offers unlimited stuff. Some children must negotiate a stuff-filled garage, avoiding trips, sharp tools, and hamster dropping. Nearly all children in the West must find their way through a world of stuff. How will they make it through? Who will guide them and protect them and share the burdens and joys of their journey?
Are you positively cautious about stuff? Let SIS know about it. Would love to link to you.
Have something to say about stuff? Consider writing for SIS. Email inquiries to Stuck In Stuff.
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