Comments on: The “Elves” Are On Overdrive…

By: Jewel

Jewel — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 15:34:58 +0000

I ‘m just happy if my gingerbread house would at least have four walls and a roof. :-) Yours looks awesome. Styrofoam for the base- what a great idea. It’ll be fun to see how it turns out.

By: kurzhaar

kurzhaar — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 23:26:30 +0000

thelma, I love Pelligrini’s books, he was such a character!!! Glad to know others are familiar with his work. Unfortunately some of his best writing is out of print, though it’s easy enough to find second-hand copies.

By: thelma

thelma — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 05:26:12 +0000

oh, good thing that you mentioned angelo pelligrini, kurzhaar. i’ve got his
books, too….great reading materials.

i know what you mean when somebody does the laundry for you. many years
ago, an older lady babysitting my son tried to do extra chores by cooking dinner
and doing the laundry. one day when i came home from work, i found my favorite
angora sweater and other clothes for dry cleaning ruined. she didn’t read the labels
that some clothes were for dry cleaning.

By: Marketman

Marketman — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 12:15:45 +0000

kurzhaar, no I have not come across Heifer (I just looked up their website)… but there are so many different groups or charitable efforts that I am definitely not aware of most of them…

By: kurzhaar

kurzhaar — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 18:15:13 +0000

Hi Marketman, I am wondering if you are aware of Heifer International efforts in your area? I have been a supporter of Heifer for many years and know they do have livestock efforts in the Philippines, but am curious to know if you personally have seen their work?
Thanks!

By: iris

iris — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 19:06:06 +0000

Waiting for your Christmas tree this year MM! :)

By: Marketman

Marketman — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 15:06:42 +0000

Alicia and psychomom and others… thanks for inquiring about the feeding program. Because of all the calamities earlier this year, and an early request for readers to help after the Typhoon Ondoy, where folks sent in generous donations, I thought everyone might have donor fatigue of sorts, and since the feeding programs are funded through the end of school year 2010, I did not put out a request for donations this Christmas. And as I type this, I think I may have forgotten to respond to an email from a generous donor from Texas? who also asked the same question a few weeks ago while I was travelling… So I would suggest you channel the funds to other charitable organizations this Christmas, and thanks again for caring and asking. Mrs. MM was just at a feeding program today, sponsored by a corporation she is connected to, and they sponsored the whole week of meals… as have other companies and generous donors… so please rest assured that the kids are STILL the happy beneficiaries of MM reader donations…

By: psychomom

psychomom — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 14:58:22 +0000

i woke up this morning thinking of MM’s feeding program. thanks alicia for bringing that up. are you still accepting donations to the feeding program MM?
agree with you kurzhaar, majority of americans (not just kids but i think adults too) are spoilt.

By: kurzhaar

kurzhaar — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 03:31:08 +0000

Hi Thelma, I actually enjoy cooking and garden chores, and I don’t mind doing laundry (I mean, how easy is that?! it’s a very meditative chore, if you know what I mean). As I mentioned, the idea of someone else’s hands on MY clothes is just, eeewww. And before anyone asks, I have almost no clothes that require dry-cleaning (that’s just too enviromentally unfriendly for me.) There are certainly chores I don’t care for, like cleaning floors, doing the dishes, or taking the trash out…but in our household that doesn’t mean hiring outside help!

It’s different if it is family members helping out when needed, and I’m definitely one who believes that kids ought to learn that honest work is nothing to shirk (you need a clean pair of jeans, go do your laundry!). I am just re-reading Angelo Pelligrini’s autobiography of himself as an immigrant, and although that was written sixty years ago, I think his comments on how spoilt (American) kids were is still true (truer?) today.

But I think I am just out of sync with a lot of posters here…

By: thelma

thelma — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 02:30:43 +0000

kurzhaar, i, too, am a very private person although i didn’t mind having househelps when i was living in the philippines. it was so nice when you woke up and the breakfast was ready.
the house was always spic and span and need not worry about laundry. having a full time househelp here is too costly. but i am happy to have a house cleaner who comes three times a week and a gardener who does the maintenance every weekend. my kids do their
own laundry now and i don’t mind cooking which i enjoy a lot….