House of Estrogen

A Tradition Continued

Last year, we started a new tradition at Thanksgiving of giving each person in the family the same amount of money to donate to the charity of their choice. It has turned out to be a nice way to talk about our own family's blessings and the struggles and issues facing other families.  I think we all benefit from letting the children really have a say in how we do some of our charitable giving. We discussed our selections over Thanksgiving but with the chaos surrounding J.C.'s injury that week, we finally finished doing our donations today, just under the wire for 2009.

I chose to contribute to the Dallas Zoo in memory of my Uncle John who was an ardent Zoo supporter and volunteer.

J.C. made his contribution to Doctors without Borders, a humanitarian organization providing medical assistance to people in war torn countries. Anderson Cooper of CNN has been very impressed with the work Doctors without Borders is doing all over the world. He has written about them in his book and done a 60 Minutes Story about how they are tackling the crisis of malnutrition.  

Addison donated her share to The Ronald McDonald House of Durham which provides a home away from home for the families of seriously ill children being treated at Duke. It is a wonderful place.

Nina, like last year, chose to purchase animals from Heifer International "because people don't really have a lot of food, so I was thinking I would give them some food because they are starving sometimes."  Heifer International provides livestock and training to families living in poverty as sustainable gifts for the families to support themselves and provide for their communities. Nina donated a pig, a trio of rabbits, and a flock of chicks this year.

Elise decided to split her money between two organizations. She gave half to the Lance Armstrong Foundation "because I know that cancer is really scary, so I  really wanted to do something to cancer." With the other half, she is giving to an organization from which she benefited this year. Karl's Books is a nonprofit that collects new and gently used books for kids being treated at the UNC Chapel Hill Pediatric Oncology Clinic. Children being treated in the clinic can take a book to help them escape boredom, fear, or feeling rotten during treatment. They can read them in the clinic and take them home. When Elise was seen there in the clinic this year when she had ITP she was able to enjoy a book while waiting in the clinic and then take it home with her. She knows how much it meant to her, so she wanted to donate to Karl's Books "because sometimes people get bored at the hospital not doing anything except mushing their brains up watching TV." She took her money to Barnes and Noble where I told her to select a variety of books for different ages of boys and girls. I suggested she choose books that she thinks kids would get excited about receiving at the clinic. I think she did a great job. The reading level pretty much stops at age 8. The list is also a bit slanted toward an 8 year old girl's interests, but that's OK. Any 8 year old girl being treated at the Clinic in the new year should have a nice selection of books from which to choose! Elise purchased:

• Lanie (An American Girl) by Jane Kurtz
• Hank Zipzer: Day of the Iguana by Henry Winkler
• Mercy Watson to the Rescue by Kate DiCamillo
• Baby Einstein Touch and Feel Farm Animals
• Usborne touchy-feely book: That's Not My Fairy...
• Snuggle Puppy by Sandra Boynton
• Chloe the Topaz Fairy by Daisy Meadows
• Scarlett the Garnet Fairy by Daisy Meadows
• Megan the Monday Fairy by Daisy Meadows
• Titanic (A Magic Treehouse Research Guide) by Will Osborne and Mary Pope Osborne
• National Geographic Kids 2010 Almanac
• The Tasty Tale of Chewandswallow by Rick Barba
• The Princess and the Frog: Hoppily Ever After by Elle D. Risco
• Skippy Jon Jones by Judy Schachner
• Chicka Chicka 123 by Bill Martin Jr.

House of Estrogen Sporting a Shirt for the Ronald McDonald House

For the past several years, I have helped out the Ronald McDonald Houses of N.C. with their "Sport a Shirt, Share a Night" fundraiser. The Ronald McDonald House provides a home away from home for the families of seriously ill children being treated at a hospital far away from home. These families frequently have to leave their homes and jobs for weeks or months at a time while their child is receiving treatment. The Ronald McDonald House provides a comfortable bedroom, a fully stocked kitchen, areas for rest and play, and a place where families find support, compassion, and understanding. If families are able, they are only asked to pay $10 per night for their stay. By "Sporting a shirt" purchased for $10, each shirt provides a free night at the house for a family who isn't able to pay. Today was "Sport a Shirt, Share a Night" day, so as you can see, we are providing almost a full week at the house for a family dealing with the frightening path of caring for their seriously ill child. When Elise was in the hospital a couple weeks ago, I thought many times how grateful I would be for a Ronald McDonald House had her condition been more serious and something that had to be treated at a hospital in another state. I can't imagine what I would have done if I had just shown up at the hospital, scared and anxious about my child and had to worry about finding a place to stay as well. I'm just thankful (on so many levels) that we weren't in that situation. It is comforting to know that Ronald McDonald Houses are there when families need them though.

 

Remind me never to dress Addie like this again!! She looks WAY too old. It is hard enough on this mama that she is a full-fledged toddler now without her looking like one too! I can still get away with dressing her like a baby at least a little while longer!

Forget the Ambulance, Just Call a Taxi

Nothing makes me smile more than conversations in the car with Nina. That girl cracks me up. Here was today's monologue after we passed by a fire house where all the fire engines were parked outside.

"Whenever a fire engine goes somewhere, a taxi should go too in case somebody fell from really, really high up and smashed their head open. Like if they fell and their whole head just split right open like a baked potato. The taxi could take them to Ronald McDonald's House where they could get their head fixed after it was split open. They could stay there at Ronald McDonald's House until their head was better."

Giving Thanks and Giving Back

We had a lovely Thanksgiving at home with J.C.'s family. The morning was stressful as I raced around snapping at people while I tried to clean the house and get ready for guests, but once everyone arrived, we had a great time and delicious turkey dinner. I can't decide if I'm cut out for entertaining or not. I enjoy the planning. I enjoy the idea of entertaining. I enjoy the actual dinner or party. It is the 24 hours leading up to it that turns me into an irritable, quick-tempered, tightly wound ball of stress. J.C. and I never agree on what needs to be done or when, so that just adds to my anxiety level. His idea of preparing for guests always seems to involve some obscure task like hanging up bikes by a pulley system in the garage, or scrubbing the floor of an upstairs bathroom that nobody will see while the kitchen sink is overflowing in dirty dishes and there is a pile of coats and shoes at the front door threatening to trip all the guests. Somehow we are usually able to muddle through those 24 hours without killing each other and have a good time in the end though. Yesterday was no exception to our usual pre-party ritual. We managed to pull things together by the time his family arrived and have a great time. Turkey, dressing, gravy, and cranberry sauce is my idea of perfect food, so this is one of my favorite times of year.

Thanksgiving evening, we went around the table and each talked about what we are thankful for this year. We do this every Thanksgiving, and it is a nice opportunity to talk to the girls about all our blessings. This year, I'm especially thankful for our new addition to the family. Addison has been such a joy. I'm thankful for a wonderful husband, three healthy girls, and stable jobs that provide well. I'm thankful for Candy Cane Jo Jo's from Trader Joe's, the extra refrigerator in my garage, homemade cranberry sauce, automatic sliding doors on minivans, and Addie's smile.

In talking about our own blessings, we decided to try something new this year for some charitable giving. Each person in the family was given the same amount of money to donate to the charities of their choice. I think the girls really got a lot out of talking about different ways their money might help others in need, and it was really empowering for them to get to choose how it would be spent. The results of our giving are below:

Addison: With help from her big sisters, Addison decided to help fund the construction of a PlayPump through PlayPumps International.  The PlayPump system is a sustainable water pump powered by children playing on a merry-go-round which provides clean water to people in developing countries. The impact it has is pretty amazing. Here is a video clip about PlayPumps.

Addie also chose to pay for 10 mosquito nets from Nothing But Nets. Each net can protect a family our size from malaria for four years. 

Nina: Nina chose to help impoverished people obtain a sustainable source of food and income by purchasing a flock of chicks, a trio of rabbits, and some honeybees through Heifer International.

"For sixty years Heifer International has brought dignity and self-reliance to families in need all over the world with its brilliantly simple solution - livestock and training for food and income"

                                                - Barbara Bush, former First Lady

Nina also chose to fund an eco-friendly playground through Operation USA. Operation USA provides disaster relief after hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, and other natural disasters. Along with the obvious relief such as medical supplies, water, shelter, and trauma teams, Operation USA works on building up the community after a disaster. Nina's donation will go toward creating a new playground in a devastated community where children can meet and gather to play after such a stressful event in their lives.

Elise: Elise chose to donate 80 children's books through First Book which provides books and literacy programs to children in need. Through the end of the year, Random House is matching donations book for book, so Elise's donation will actually result in a donation of 160 books to First Book.

J.C.: J.C. chose to donate toward a Play Pump and also fund the purchase of 10,000 clean water tablets through Operation USA.

Ann: I chose to donate my share to the Ronald McDonald House of Durham which provides a home away from home for the families of seriously ill children being treated at Duke University Medical Center. My donation can provide a room in the house for a family for three weeks.

This has been a great Thanksgiving... full of giving thanks and giving back.