Wednesday, October 17, 2012Thank You For Helping Haitian Families First
"I just wish we didn't constantly have to worry about having a house and how we're going to feed the babies," Ali McMutrie said.
We were having dinner last week, regrouping after I asked y'all for some help getting some formula for Haitian Families First. Ali squeezed the words in between some light conversation. The words stood out. They screamed.
The good news is that you guys came through. Big time. Formula has been showing up at the Haitian Families First office thanks to you all. So, thank you.
The bad news is that Jamie and Ali have 30 babies who depend on them for formula. 30 mouths to feed, several times per day. If you do the math, it comes out to 352 cans of formula each month. Together we made a dent, but it's exactly that ... a dent.
I don't know how you manage things when you're making "a dent." Do you have to pick who to feed? I don't know. The babies who need formula have names. They are real people who just need a little help now so that they can have a future. Felix, Dephica, Seth, Sara-me, Orons ... each and every baby needs to depend on the kindness of strangers for formula.
So, if you haven't helped yet, but are so inclined, there are several ways you can do it. You can send formula and/or formula coupons to the Haitian Families First office. The address is:
Haitian Families First
6906 Merton Road
Pittsburgh, PA 15202
If you'd rather drop the formula off, there's a chance coming up to do exactly that. Ginny wrote about it over here, but this Saturday there is an event at Shadow Lounge that benefits Haitian Families First. You can go to watch as Ginny hides in the corner NOT singing (I'm willing to help with that effort, but only because I am NOT singing either), or you can just drop off formula and leave. It's all good. More details about the time and place are here.
So, send in your formula. Go karaoke. Take some formula with you.
Oh, and there's one more thing you can do. This weekend Las Velas is hosting a "Dine Out for Haitian Families First" event. Go to Las Velas and stuff your face full of queso and quesadillas (Trust me on the food choice there. I am a trained expert, after all.). Tell your server that you're there to support Haitian Families First and they'll donate 15% of your bill to the nonprofit. You can throw in a couple of extra bucks if you want, just make sure you get there somewhere between October 19th and 21st.
Look at me demanding you go eat delicious Mexican food. Hey, do it for the kids! And because I said so!
Get To The Point Of The Eraser
If there is one purchase that we've made in Alexis' 6+ years of life that was worth EVERY FREAKIN CENT, it would be her Kindle Fire. It's like a Mobile Alexis Entertainment System. I pretty much want to make out with it every time she spends a few hours watching a movie, reading books, or playing games on it. I won't make out with it, though, because then I'd have to take it away from Alexis and OVER MY DEAD BODY. Don't anybody separate that kid from her Mobile Entertainment System because that thing brings me great joy. And silence.
Did I mention that we spent $200 and ended up getting silence in return? IS THERE A BETTER WAY TO SPEND YOUR MONEY?
I think not.
(I'm only slightly annoyed that the one we bought her last November is now $100 on Amazon. Only slightly.)
In setting up Alexis' Kindle Fire, I made a decision. I decided, several months ago, that I would leave the dictionary on it that came with it. Everybody needs a dictionary, right? It's just a good thing to have, even if it is an early version of an eReader dictionary and isn't as functional as I would like. By that I mean it doesn't have a search function, so you have to page through it to find words. It's time consuming, to say the least.
Which is why when Alexis asked what the "weird book on her Kindle" was, I just picked a random page for my demonstration. Never before had the child paid any attention to her dictionary, so I thought I was about to make it rain Christmas Joy in October. A book! With words! And more words! Alexis LOVES words!
I flipped to a word I knew she already has in her mental toolbox so that I could demonstrate the power and majesty that comes with knowing how to use the dictionary.
Eraser.
"You know what an eraser is, right?" I asked Alexis.
"Yes! It's a thing you use to erase pencil!" she replied. She was close enough for government work, but I still went ahead and read the dictionary definition to her.
The dictionary defined "eraser" as "One that erases, especially an implement, such as a piece of rubber or a pad of felt, used for erasing marks made by pencil or chalk." I read the definition to Alexis ... and then watched as her brain exploded all over the kitchen.
It should be noted that the child was exhausted at this point in time. OBVIOUSLY. She's not usually this volatile, but HOOBOY did that definition piss her off.
I present video evidence of her pissedoffedness. For what it's worth, Alexis gave me permission to post this video after spending a solid ten minutes laughing at herself when she watched it tonight. That made me feel a lot less bad about the fact that I only videotaped it for my own amusement, but then thought it was so funny it needed to be shared. With the entire internet.
Anyway. Video evidence that Alexis was M-A-D.
So, let's sum.
It really, really, REALLY pisses my kid off when she asks you what a word means and you define it using more words she doesn't know. I guess that means we can scratch "dictionary editor" off of her career goals list.
And college professor.
And lawyer.
And sooooooo many other things.
