Alex has a classmate whose family is adopting 2 children from Ethiopia. The class is collecting new or gently used shoes to donate to the orphanage. So, tonight I pulled out a globe and tried to explain it all. I started by talking about the terms orphan and orphanage...what kids at an orphanage may need....what it means to adopt...where is Ethiopia...etc. I told them about how special it would be for the kids to have shoes to play soccer, run in, etc. Then we bagged up a few gently used pairs from the basement.
Here's the boys reaction...I'm guessing most readers can pick out who is who:
Wooden Boy #1 (while focused mostly on a book he's just grabbed and mildly annoyed with the lecture/conversation) : Do they need a soccer ball? That would be much more cooler than these old shoes. And anyway, all this talk about orphigs is making me hungry for a treat. Can we go to Sundaes At The Cottage for ice cream now?
Sigh. Strike 1 for Mom. No deep conversation or visible understanding of the concept it seems. A little too self-absorbed right now to grasp it I'm afraid.
Wooden Boy #2: Mom, it sounds like they need a family, not shoes. Can we just bring one or two home, please? By the way, do they have food? I think food would be more important than shoes. Do you think they celebrate Mother's Day if they don't have a Mom?
Ahh. Success. This one gets it and mind is moving a mile a minute. So much so that my big hearted little man was still wide awake at 9:45pm in his bed tonight and when I asked him what he was thinking about, he responded "Finding some way to go to Ethiopia and help those kids."
Perfect end to Mother's Day. I'll get through to #1 too...it'll just take another fly-by or two. A crash and burn on the first pass never gets me down :)
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