Hunger Games: I'm Not Hungry Anymore

Well I'm not as hungry as I used to be after last Friday evening.  Hard to believe it's almost been a week ago.  I'm still feeling it.  I'm trying to look at the bright side of what happened.


So my daughter's friends were very excited about going to see a movie.  Most of her friends had read all of the books.  Her best friends had even bought the clothing.  All of their hair is now like "her" hair.  Can you guess the movie?  Yes, The Hunger Games.


When these books first came out, the only reason I knew anything about the first book was my involvement in book fairs.  I coordinate book fairs for elementary and middle school.  This book was one of those books heavily promoted.  All the kids loved it.  I, at the time, had only briefly read the back cover.  At the warehouse sale I picked up all three because kids were falling in love with them.  


This was awesome news for me.   I have a son who, at the time, was required to read a certain amount of books during the school year.  I knew that he wasn't anywhere close to his goal of  25.  How did I know,  you ask?  Since I coordinate book fairs, I am close with the Media Specialist.  The Media Specialist, in conjunction with his reading teacher, knows what he has read.  It's good to be involved.


Every kid, okay every kid from 10-15,  was raving about the book.  Parents were letting me know that their nonreader blew through the books.  Blew through the books! YES!  OMG, it is so difficult to find something for my son to read so this was a no-brainer. 


I bought the books, brought them home and proudly laid them on his bed.  He comes home from school and I say, "I bought you something today. I laid it on your bed."  His eyes lit up a little too quickly.  Maybe I shouldn't have been so enthusiastic.  


He looked at the back cover and said, "No."  I said in one breath, "What do you mean? All the kids love these books!"  "Just try to read it!"  He replied by saying nothing.  The book just sat at the end of the bed until he put then on the bookshelves in the living room.  Oh well, I tried.  I'm always trying.


His sister found out about the books after her friend talked about how good they were.  She couldn't put the book down.  In a short amount of time she had blown through all of the books.  I was impressed.  She was a nonreader just like my son.  She couldn't get enough of these books.  For Christmas she was given the last of the series along with a "Hunger Games" t-shirt.  Her sister, the reader of the two, followed suit.  


Both talked to my daughter.  They also talked to another friend.  They were all pretty intoxicated with the characters just by discussion, not because all of them had read the books.  It was kind of cute.  It was kind of cute until the movie started.


The other moms and I decided to go out to dinner before the movie.  The timing was a bit tricking.  We agreed on 5:30 @ Zaxby's.  Zaxby's would be quick.  Apparently there would be a tremendous waiting period.  WHAT!  I had already purchased the tickets.  Actually WE had already purchased the tickets AND picked them up.  One of the friends knows about the chaos and frenzy associated with the release of movies that have this much of a following.  We arrived a hour and a half before the movie started.  There were people already lined up outside of theater.  Already outside of the theater!  No, seriously.  I'm not talking about he people standing in line to purchase the tickets. This was the line INSIDE of the the theater.  We were already 6 deep on both sides of the doors leading into the actual theater.  It was CRAZY!


This will have to be continued...

A Family Christmas

Family dynamics are funny.  They are funny when you sit back and look at them but not too funny when you are living it.  Right now I am  living it.  

Every Christmas for the last 23 years my husband and I make the 6 hour drive to Kentucky to visit our parents.  During our stay we also see my brother's family and my husband's family.  We can't really leave behind our kids so they have joined us since they were infants.  My brother lives  5 minutes away.   He has two kids. One of my husband's brothers also lives in Kentucky.  He has an older brother that lives in St. Louis.  Their children are older and scattered.  They try to make it in for Christmas also.  As they get older,  and more of them marry and have kids,  the Christmas visits are less predictable.

My parents and my husband's mom live across the street from one another in the same subdivision.  They have for as long as we have been together.  Kind of crazy but tremendously convenient all the way around.  When the kids were little it was so nice to walk from one grandparent's house to the other.  It's convenient now because the kids can walk themselves and we don't have to worry.

Initially when my husband and I moved to GA we would could visit our folks Thanksgiving and Christmas along with other visits sprinkled in.  Now, as the kids have got older, we come up 3 times a year which includes Christmas.  

We stay at my parents house because it would just work out better that way.  We tried staying at his mom's before but there were just too many people in that house at one time for me.  To begin with, I am forced into cohabitation with those I have never lived with nor do I see them very often.  They have not only a different way of living, what's acceptable and what isn't.   Secondly, it seems there is never enough space.  Everytime you turn around you bump into someone you really don't want to bump into.  Lastly, the kids are bored unless they are with their cousins and even that after a while becomes old.  

By the end of the week everyone is ready to hop back in the car for the 6 hour trip.  Also on the way back the kids plug in and all is well.  It's a little on the sad side but everyone is happier with this type of closeness.  

In My Own Backyard

The other day I started questioning my thoughts regarding starving children in my own backyard vs. children living in other countries who do not have enough to eat.  I hear what you are saying, starving is starving.  I did agree with this but, I am also embarrassed to say,  I was of the opinion that we need to take care of "our own" first.  How many times have you heard someone say that? Since that time I have come to realize that the children I speak of should not be segregated.  Also,  who exactly are the children that belong to us?  The use of "our own" children is also a bit selfish and egocentric. I still believe we need to help those who live nearby but now I readily accept the perspective that the children living in other countries need our help too and probably more so.

 I live in Cherokee County, Georgia.   We have thousands of children that go without food and this is especially true in the summertime.  During the school year, the school system provides free or reduced lunches to kids who meet a certain criteria, poverty.  When school is not in session,  these same kids may only get one or two meals a day.  Some days it might not be anything.  It is overwhelming to think of all of the children in this area alone that go hungry for whatever reason. Most of the reasons are endlessly sad.  Fortunately,  where I live,  there are things that we, who are more fortunate, can do to help those who are not as fortunate.  We can donate resources and time to organizations like MUST Ministries. MUST provides food and clothing to individuals in need.  They also assist in areas of adult education and employment.  In addition to that, MUST feeds thousands of kids in Cherokee County and nearby Cobb County every summer through their summer lunch program.  (www.mustministries.org)

It takes a great deal of volunteers to pull this off as well as an immense amount of donated food and money.  It is a wonderful program that I do not think a lot of people know about. I do know about this program because I have been one of the many volunteers who have gone to the trailer parks in the summer delivering lunches to kids.  It is a life-changing experience. The children flocked to my van, so eager to get something to eat. They waited for these lunches with the same anticipation my own children have had before they unwrap their birthday gifts.  After I delivered the food and chatted with some of the kids and their parents, I sat in my van and wept for a long time.  My heart ached for those kids and because of my experience I was drawn to helping people, children especially,  on a local level.  What  about the starving children who are not in my backyard, my state, or my country? What resources do the kids in Africa or India have?  They have programs like Feed The Children, but it is not a local organization.  ( www.feedthechildren.org) Those children need our help too.

 Children in need depend on us to help them. Children did not ask to be brought into the world therefore it is our responsibility to help them however we can,  no matter if they are in our own backyard or not.
Peace,
Pamela