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THE ANSWER IS BLOWING IN THE WIND
Published On 12-28-2009 , 9:06 AM
SO much for us to be grateful for in a year when prosperity for so many friends, relatives and fellow countrymen is hard to come by.
To have awakened Christmas morning in a house with a roof that wasn't leaking, with company coming for dinner or an invitation to celebrate the holiday at someone else's table was truly a blessing.
To have watched the youngsters gleefully snatching and then opening their presents from under the tree is a memory to cherish. Grabbing the digital camera and catching these memories, downloading them into the computer and then sending them to everyone no matter where they live - near or far - is truly a bit of technological genius.
Grandparents, those who've bitten the bullet and joined the computer age, marveled at their ability to press a button or two and have the younguns,teenagers, toddlers and newly arrived infants staring at them from their own homes but now on laptop, desktop or from those other newfangled screens.
What did you get for Christmas?
Tuning my ear to the wind, as the old folks in my family called it, I continually hear a different answer blowing around and the message I'm catching isn't just coming from those who've lived long enough to collect enough gifts to stock their own small store, but it is coming from many families with young crumb-snatchers.
Christmas had a new meaning in a lot of households. From the sound of things, this great holiday may well be returning to days of old.
"Spending time together was our goal," said one mother of teenage girls who reported the days of new clothes, accessories and trinkets had given way to absolutely no presents. Instead it's about having shopped for the dinner and spending Christmas morning preparing it, which mom always did by herself while the "girls" opened, swooned, tried on and then modeled their new stuff.
"My husband had to work, so it was going to be a pretty quiet day around the house, but last week my 13-year-old suggested we volunteer for the morning at one of the shelters and that's what we did," reported another head of family seeing the holiday with a different spirit than how it once was.
Christmas at her house, this mom reported, has always been a huge self-centered experience. While the younger child had a million questions about them volunteering, she was happy to answer all that she could, but the experience itself, she said, settled for him the good of giving help to others.
Christmas has passed, but we aren't yet through with ourselves. The end of the year is closing in and the resolutions we quietly make are waiting to be finalized. Will we change the course of history - our own and our children's? If I read the wind correctly, the answer is blowing in a historical direction.
Happy New Year!
This blog can be found in our column section where you can print a copy or e-mail to someone
http://talkaboutparenting.org/pages/articles.php
Tune-in Wednesdays Noon to 1:00 p.m. Talk Abut Parenting with Shirlee Smith LIVE Call-in at 626-794-2116 or 794-2551. PCAC Charter Channel 56 in Pasadena. Return to our home page and click the channel 56 logo for streaming. See our calendar listing for show guest and for further information.
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Comment
| | 1. | Nice blog Shirlee!
- by Bruce, 12-29-2009, 8:52 AM
| | 2. | Yes, Shirlee,
"The answer is blowing in a historical direction." Many of us, and the COUNTRY and WORLD got a wake up call. Things are gonna be different. But, we "OLD FOLK" are gonna have a much bigger part in it than many might think.
See, I'm ready for the "younger folk" to take charge. But, they are gonna have to "earn it" just like we did. WE "took over", back in the day. WE had a good run. WE didn't do all we wanted to. But WE did a lot.
I'm waiting to see what these young folk are gonna do.
We'll talk about on The Wilfong Hour today, as a matter of fact.
Hank
- by Hank Wilfong, 12-28-2009, 9:33 AM
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