The gift of giving

Sean signed the Christmas card we included in the shoebox, and he was super excited to take his box to the drop-off site.

I've been patiently waiting for Sean to get to a developmental stage for joyful giving. Until now he has still been in that stage of "I want to keep that," so I've waited. I don't think it is a good idea to force kids to give when they don't want to. I think if we model it for them, talk about why it is important, and wait, they will come to it on their own. That is true joyful giving, and that is what I've wanted for him. He has a generous nature, so I knew he would get to this point.

He finally is really starting to get it, so this year I offered to let him pack a shoebox for Operation Christmas Child. I explained what Operation Christmas Child is, and he decided to pack a shoebox.

We talked about where it might go -- some country far away to a little boy just his age who has no home, who has been the victim of war, or other heartache and difficulties. He said he hopes it will go to a child in South America.

We talked about the many children in the world who have never had a toy, and maybe his box would go to a child like this, or who lost all of his toys when his home was destroyed. We talked about how this child might not know Jesus, maybe never heard of him, and I explained that the people who help deliver these boxes to the children also put a little book in the box that tells about Jesus.

Sean was very excited to pack his own box. We had a few things in the closet to put in the box, and then he carefully shopped at Target to fill it. We included a Christmas card with the Nativity scene, and a picture of Sean. On our way to drop it off we stopped for nuggets at McDonald's and he got a toy in the Happy Meal that he already had. He decided to put it in the box too.

He was curious to know where the box would go, who the child was that would receive it. If I had realized I could, I would have filled out the form online to track the box. I think that is a very exciting feature, and we'll do it next year. But I didn't know, so I just said we have to pray about it, and God will make sure that box gets to just the right boy.

It was a wonderful feeling to watch him pack the box, joyfully giving all of these nice little trinkets and candy, most of which he doesn't have. He doesn't need them, of course, but in the past he would have wanted one for himself.

He put it all in the box.

He normally doesn't like his picture taken, but I asked if I could take a picture of him giving his box at the drop-off site. He agreed. When we got there, he started to give the box to the lady working there, and then pulled back and said, "My Mom is going to take a picture." So she suggested he put the shoebox in the big packing box for the photo.

The big smile on his face in the photo is precious to me. He was so happy to give, and it was all on his own. I didn't push, or force, or cajole. It was simply a choice. And to me that is the best way to give.

What would you do with $350,000

Today Michael Jackson's white rhinestoned glove sold for $350,000. It struck me that when something is sold at auction for what is to me a large amount of money, I am surprised. In some cases it could be something valuable, such as a very beautiful and rare painting. When that happens I always hope the person purchasing the item will preserve it, and even make it available in some way to the rest of us who could never afford it.
But today we're talking about a glove.
If I had that much money, I'd like to think I could find a more creative way to spend it. Maybe fund research to help eradicate a disease, dig 70 wells for people in some area of Africa who don't have clean water, help fill a school library with books for children in a rural area of our own country-- good gracious the list is endless. But a glove???
What would you do with $350,000?

Snapshots of Fall

Sean loves every little creature, and that includes snails. We have an abundance of these, and he frequently brings them inside to watch them slime along on various surfaces--yep, even his face. I've grown to love all things boy, and now embrace slime, and the beauty of snakes and frogs and even spiders. As long as he loves to learn about them, I get just as excited as he does.

For a while there, Sean was starting to get his days and nights mixed up. So it was to the point of ridiculous, and I decided I was going to wear him out and get him to bed early one day last week. We went to the park and he ran and played for well over an hour. Blew homeschool day, but hey, it got him back on track. This pic is as the sun is setting. It was getting pretty chilly, and he was getting tired.

As if life wasn't full enough, I decided it would be a good idea to get a kitten. We have a dog, and we love her. But I thought Sean would enjoy an inside pet. I've had cats before, but one at a time. I thought maybe it would be better to have two and they could play and have a companion and not cry all night long. We got these two on Monday night. They race through the house all night, wreaking havoc on anything that isn't too heavy to knock over. Sometimes I think I should have my head examined.

But they are very cute, and I think it will be good for Sean to learn how to take care of them.

Sean's Jack-o-Lantern

We went to the poor man's pumpkin patch yesterday. The big cardboard bins at Fred Meyer.
Oh, I've made that Be a Good Mom syndrome trip to the cute pumpkin patch and paid an outrageous price. One year I think I spent close to $40-some on a couple of pumpkins and a carving tool set which promptly bent and broke after about a minute of cutting into the pumpkin.
Right.
Sean carefully chose a pumpkin from the three bins, we paid our $3 and brought our new friend home. When we were ready, he drew the design he wanted. I transfered it to the pumpkin and we got to work.
I believe I have carved a pumpkin with my kids for about 18 or so years. Some years we had more than one because the elongated shape lent itself to ghostly faces, and the squat ones more of the traditional creepy snaggle toothed types.
It is pouring rain as I write this. Predicted weather for Halloween? You got it, pouring rain. So I think we will choose an inside gig.
We usually have a huge decoration in the yard that I got on super sale at Big Lots a few years ago. We call it "The Great Pumpkin," and it rises in our front yard. It's one of those popular ones you plug in that fills with air. Not sure he'll make it to our yard this year with all the rain.
But this little guy will be on our porch and we'll attempt to keep him glowing.

Do you see what your children are seeing?

In the past I have been a big fan of children's movies. In more recent years I've been disappointed by the quality on several levels. But there is one thing I didn't see and it took Sean to show me that what some people have been saying for years is really true.

He enjoys movies. He loves Peter Pan, and has for a while now. We recently found the old movie, "Hook," at a thrift store and he watched it for a few days. It's the story of Peter Pan all grown up, who has to go back to Neverland and fight Captain Hook again to save his children. But really it's about a dad who is way too focused on work and worldly things instead of being present for his kids. It's cute.
For years people have been saying that Disney movies are produced in a racist way. The good guys are always white. Bad guys are black, and sometimes the black animated characters (such as the crows in Dumbo) are portrayed with a Southern accent and obvious black dialect.
I could see it, but also always said people can take anything and pick it apart and make it into something to support their agenda.
Sean is a brown child, with brown eyes and very dark brown- almost black hair.
Recently he started saying things like, "I wish I had white skin." We talk about that and how God made him brown, and God believes he is wonderful just the way he is, and I do too. I love his brown skin and think it is beautiful.
Another night as I put him to bed he said, "I wish I had blue eyes." I asked why, and he said because in the movies, the one the movie is about always has blue eyes and they're the good guys."
He has noticed it in other films too, and cartoons.
Now my job is to subtly replace those with more healthy options, if I can FIND ANY! I could do away with movies and cartoons all together, but I don't think that is realistic.

It's a Wild West out there

Danna, Rodika, Irene and myself at Seattle University 

for the Northwest Journalism Conference.

The campus was very nice, and I love the fall colors.

I attended a Journalism conference yesterday in Seattle and it was AWESOME. All three of the sessions I attended were incredible, filled with some of the best minds and best journalists around. A bunch of the former P-I guys have launched a non-profit online news site, and there are several others that have cropped up as well.

You should check these out: westseattleblog.com

That one is run by a woman who used to be a newsroom manager at a TV station years ago. She and her husband manage this site 24-7 and do it in shifts. It is for profit and they're bringing in 6 figures a year.

pubicola.net is run by a guy who was an editor of a city paper called The Stranger. publicola started with what it did best, politics in Olympia, and then expanded to include other topics. The amount of coverage for Olympia dropped from 30 reporters to 7 since the cutbacks in newspapers.

crosscut.com  also does some politics, but more analysis type stuff. They just recently went to non-profit.

Another bunch of P-I people launched invw.org, an investigative news site.

Sounded like all of these guys link to each other's sites too.  Journalism is becoming much more cooperative, and I've seen that out in my area as well. A quasi-competitor of mine and I frequently share story ideas, photos, etc.

There was a guy at the event named Mark Briggs who used to be the online tech guy for the Tacoma News Tribune. He has written a book that is being used in college classrooms now called Journalism 2.0. He has another one coming out soon and he also has some great info about what to do and not to do online.

The publisher/owner of the Seattle Times provided a question answer during lunch, and actually said the newspaper business model is solid, and there are other factors in the mess that people don't realize and understand. Big business conglomerates that own newspapers have tacked on debts that are pulling the newspapers under. Seattle Times is a family owned paper, one of the last in the country. 

He said he doesn't believe the online news has a good business model. But the west seattle blog lady seems to be doing something right.

Several people said Seattle is a great case study for what is happening in journalism right now.

What I saw was optimism and excitement about the endless possibilities. The theme of the day was try it and fail quickly. If you fail, do something different.

Another theme: All students graduating need to know the fundamentals of journalism, ethics, etc. but also all of the online tech tools, how to operate a video camera, edit that content, and know some html. crosscut.com and publicola.com editors both said they incorporate video into their news site.

As the former editor of the Spokane Spokesman Review said, "We're back to the Wild West days," where anyone who had a passion for getting the information out to the people could do it and they weren't considered professionals nor did they need to be.

Questions about credibility, how to identify a credible source online, and whether there should be some way to tag credible sources was discussed in one session. A big caution to where the information used in stories comes from was given. One example: information that was taken from Wikipedia and used as fact in a story. It was wrong. Also discussion about how information can travel so fast, and be wrong.

I'll end with this quote that was mentioned:

"The speed of communications is wondrous to behold. It is also true that speed can multiply the distribution of information that we know to be untrue."

Edward R. Murrow

And I got that quote from a source called thinkexist.com, which also provides an icon under that quote that says, "suggest a revision." A shame Ed isn't here to correct us if we're wrong on that one.

Godly Play

I am so excited I can barely contain myself. Just a couple of weeks ago I was thinking about our church Sunday school and wishing there was a different way of teaching it. The reason I started thinking was because I received a call asking if I would teach again.  I said no to teaching this year because this is my first year of homeschool teaching and thought I would be overwhelmed. I've been a Sunday school teacher, and followed a curriculum and did what the book said, and it was fine. But after experiencing the Montessori way of learning academics, I wished there could be a Montessori way of learning about Christ and the Bible.
Well, I had no idea!
There is such a thing, and our church is starting Godly Play Sunday School this weekend!!! (There will also be traditional grades Sunday school.)
I am so excited for Sean.
And when I mentioned it to my friend Shane, she said her little boy Jacob-Joshua had been in a Godly Play Sunday school in Germany and she was looking for one here. She tried one in another city that didn't quite get it right, she said. So I think they are going to visit our church soon.
I feel like it is a validation for me in a way, on my decision to Montessori homeschool. Sean's academic and faith education will be based on the same philosophy of learning.
If you want more information about Godly Play check out this site.
Here is a description from our Sunday school letter:
The Godly Play classroom is designed so that children can use and explore everything in it. It is a safe, engaging and loving environment where what children say and do is valued and respected. The walls of the classroom are lined with shelves, each containing baskets of stories made out of beautiful, natural materials. Children are thus surrounded by the biblical story in the classroom.
And this:
During the "work" time children are invited to use the enrichment materials of the classroom to further explore the story. These include books, maps, and art materials, as well as the stories themselves. During this time, besides having fun, the children are linking up the religious language of the story with their own inner understanding, which helps them understand the story and makes it come alive. This makes sense, because in so doing they are entering into relationship with God--opening themselves to grace.