Giving Back

I’ve heard this phrase so many times recently, and I have a friend who uses it quite a bit.  Celebrities often say it during their interviews on late-night talk shows.  “I’m giving back to the community,” they say.  But every time I hear it, I can’t help but wonder if it’s a valid statement.  And if so, is it one that actually matches my values?

“Giving back to the community” implies that the community has given to you and you are ready to repay it.  Has the community given to you?  Have they been the source of your success?  Did they provide you with your education, your job, your home, your family?  If your answer to any of these is “yes,” then by all means, give back.  That’s an admirable thing to do.

But if your successes came from your own hard work, your faith, the support of your family and friends, then why do you have to repay the community?  I would say instead, “I will give to the community -- I will give of my resources, my knowledge, my abilities, my time, to help someone else in this place where I live, with no expectation of ever being repaid.  I will do it because it is the right thing to do.  It is right to help another human being when I have the ability to do so.”  That’s better than “giving back,” I’d say.

 

Lunchbag Letdown

A busy friend of mine told me that she was ecstatic that her kids where going back to school but not looking forward to packing those lunches every day.  Ah, the joys of packing lunches…How can you make lunch packing less stressful on you and your kids and make sure that they are going to eat what you pack?
 

If you are lucky enough to have older kids, you can give them the responsibility of making their own lunch, but if you have to make lunches for you and your kids, you want it to be healthy and yet taste good at the same time.
 

The school that my daughters attend has no cafeteria and also has a peanut free rule (because of allergies), so that rules out peanut butter and a lot of other related food stuffs.  So how can you make lunches interesting so that your kids will want to eat it?
 

Pita bread, rice cakes, crackers or buns make interesting alternatives to white bread. Soup and chilli kept in insulated thermoses are great things to send.  I have a friend that sends hot dogs in a thermos or mac n cheese.
 

Fruits and veggies are an important part of daily meals.  What about celery with cheez whiz?  Or carrot sticks with dip?  Grapes and raisins are always a welcome addition and are great for snacks in between classes as well.
 

As for treats, buy them in bulk to save money then divide them up yourself at home. Treats like cookies, cheesies, raisins, and other goodies can be pricey when bought in small single serving packages. Get your child to help divide them into baggies.
 

I tend to send granola bars with my kids, not the sugary sweet ones, but the ones with fruit and yogurt.  Because my kids only have a scant 15 minutes to eat their lunch before they are put out to the playground, a granola bar and similar handy snacks or fruit can go with them outside.  That way, even if they didn’t have time to finish their sandwich or salad (yes, my girls take a salad for lunch), they can still have something that is portable and healthy.
 

Enlist your children’s help while shopping for lunch products and for making their lunches, so they can have a say in what they eat.  Suggest healthy alternatives to sweets that they want, but throw in a sweet once in awhile as a special treat.  Remember, variety is the spice of life, so don’t make the same type of sandwich all the time.
 

If you find yourself frazzled in the morning, try the lunch the night before. But the biggest piece of advice is not to stress over it.  .

What Will Tomorrow Bring?



In the aftermath of Katrina, there's a lot of talk about 

uncertain times, yet really, aren't all times uncertain? That's 

part of the excitement and the heartbreak of life—we can't 

predict the future, not matter how carefully we plan. For 

instance, the idea of drafting a business plan for any of the 

ventures I've embarked on makes me chuckle, and think of the 

oh-so-true saying, "Life happens when you're making other 

plans." Oh sure, we can plan and plot our expectations for our 

businesses and careers, but we never really know how those will 

unfold, whether the weather will turn everything topsy-turvy in 

a minute, whether the spouse we kissed good-bye in the morning 

will walk through the door that night, or our employees will 

quit at the drop of a hat, etc., etc., etc. As I've been 

watching bits and pieces of the news, I was reminded that "You 

can't take it with you," not even in this life. It also struck 

me that, on the other hand, maybe there are a few  'things' we 

could carry with us and that would carry us through—and those 

are our words. In good times and bad, for good or for bad, our 

words will always be with us. They will move us forward or set 

us back, tear someone else down or build them up. So, it seems 

to me that now's the time for those of us who are fortunate 

enough to be observers and not immediate participants in the 

on-going tragedy to think twice before we speak—and to speak 

softly and positively whenever and wherever we might be.

Pre-Paid Cell Phones

In an effort to save money and cut down on household expenses, I have re-evaluated our cell phone plan.  My husband and I have found we can live with one phone since we primarily use it on family trips or when he‘s out of town.   For some reason, our bill always seemed to go way over the anticipated (and budgeted) amount; once it even went $150 over!  We needed a new plan.

Because of our limited use of the cell phone (well, obviously, it wasn’t that limited), I decided to look into the pre-paid plans.  Not bad, I thought, once we paid for the new phone and the connection fee.  A pre-paid plan seemed to be just what we needed to help us stay within our budget.

My only caution about the pre-paid phones:  from what I have found, their calling area seems to be much smaller than that of a regular cell phone.  Most of the ones I checked out didn’t cover our geographical location at all.  In those cases, I think, the provider charges you for roaming, which means you would use up twice as many of your pre-paid minutes than if regular service had been available.

We went with a regular plan and a new provider.  I hope it works out better than our last plan did.  Perhaps a pre-paid plan would be right for you -- just be sure to check out the area coverage before you sign up.