It has been a busy weekend in many ways. Yesterday KC and a lot of the members of the dance school that they participates in performed shows at the area assisted living facilities. They were very warmly received in all venues. He was in 3 of the numbers this year and the shows were about 45 minutes in length. They did 4 shows in all and devoted the larger part of yesterday to giving joy in this way to the seniors of our city. He was proud and excited to be doing this. Last year he was only in 2 numbers, this year he was in 3. He stressed a lot about whether or not he would slip when he did his solo in the tap number, whether he would get tired doing the lift etc etc. He did great though.
Lissa spent from 2 to 6 yesterday outside a local big box store with her Girl Scout troop. She was helping with the cookie booth and despite the very chilly temperatures the girls did well on their sales. Lissa and I worked together on finding recipes on the net that use Girl Scout cookies and folks who bought more than 4 boxes got a free recipe book. It was a cute little sales aid and Lissa enjoyed doing it. I helped at the booth the last 2 hours of the day, having completed taxi duties associated with the winter show performances. Holy handwarmers it was cold! Lissa was fine as I had her wear her really warm winter gear--snow boots, snow pants, parka etc. Dressed like we were doing a winter hike. However our troop is not wealthy and many of the kids working were very lightly dressed for being outside so long. When I came I brought extra gloves and chemical handwarmers and just left them on the end of the table so people could borrow gloves, and use the handwarmers. They were gone in a flash. It is one of those things you don't realize at first. In a lot of social situations it is easy to disguise the fact that there is a real fine line between having enough and just barely getting by nowadays. But sometimes it shows. Kids who say they only wear hoodies because of "fashion" sometimes really only wear hoodies for other reasons.
Today Lissa has a "hang out" (we have apparently reached the age where we are too cool to have a play date) with her friend L. I'll pick her up at 3:30 and she and KC and i will head to the food packing center. Both kids were initially thrilled to do this. Today not so much; primarily because KC is a bit tired from yesterday and because it made for a shorter time for Lissa and her friend to be together today. However I have been impervious to their half hearted suggestions that we not go.
First of all, I believe in showing up when you say you will and I did check with them before I signed up our team. Secondly, I think the energy of the event will come through to them. I have done the United Day of Caring with my work team and you can't help but get energized because to be in community with so many people excited to help others---well, it is pretty cool. But most importantly, I think it is important to find a variety of ways to help others. This is a way to give of service and I am convinced that service needs to be a component in creating a more fair and just world. It isn't just about writing a check or dropping off a donation. Those are fine. They are needed and there are times when I have contributed in that way as well. But we also need to be willing to work for a better world, and a fairer distribution of that which we all need in order to live. So I hope today will help my two youngest see that and I'm more than willing to plan another "hang out" time for Lissa and her friend!
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