Pure Parents

Question:

Thank you, I am not the only one that feels this way..My husband came home with his list from work for recommended toys to give for the needy kids in the town the office is in..Woodland Hills, California where the average house must cost over $400,000.00 and rent for a two bedroom apartment is $1,500 a month at least. Someone please explain to me how needy these kids can be..They give the toys out at a party at the local park and I guess they give toys to who ever shows up..I was told it would make them feel bad if they actually had to prove they were needy …But it makes the company feel good to be able to put in there employee newsletter and press releases that they gave alot of toys away to the "needy".. My family makes up goody bags for christmas..We collect stuff all year (the 99Cents store is good for some of this, toothbrushes, toothpaste, bars of soap,knit gloves, warm socks,cough drops, and such) and give them to a group of homeless at a park..Another family arranges a dinner… What do you do that helps? Happy Holidays everyone.

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> Good lord.  You would think that the moo would have talked to the kids > about their wish lists beforehand so they don’t look so bad.  Whoops, > too late.

So why are you trying to spam-bomb the peter-david ng? What’s special about them? If you cross-post childfree with  misc.kids and parenting , you get a flamewar. Okay. I suppose the Disney parks thing adds volume. But why is peter-david the target?

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>> Good lord.  You would think that the moo would have talked to the kids > about their wish lists beforehand so they don’t look so bad.  Whoops, > too late. >So why are you trying to spam-bomb the peter-david ng? What’s special about >them? >If you cross-post childfree with  misc.kids and parenting , you get a >flamewar. Okay. I suppose the Disney parks thing adds volume. But why is >peter-david the target?

Dunno.  The alt.support.childfree and parenting groups are meant to be exploited to try and get the flamewar and the resulting volume (they don’t care *what* the flamewar is about…), and the other ‘groups are the targets.  For the most part, thankfully, folks in the groups to be provoked have ignored the provocation (with an exception or two who by now know  full well about the crossposting and apparently are happy to oblige with provocative posts, but just about everyone wisely isn’t obliging *them* either). Of course I shouldn’t say "they" – apparently it’s still this Chern schmuck. Banty

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Can someone please explain to me how I can tell from a post that it has been crossposted to other newsgroups?  I use aol and all I can see on a post is the subject, who sent it, the date and time that it was sent.   Kim

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>Good lord.  You would think that the moo would have talked to the kids >about their wish lists beforehand so they don’t look so bad.  Whoops, >too late.

Why don’t you people have your kids play games on their computers? They’re cheaper and can be used for other things as well. Get the latest version of MAME, the arcade game emulator and play all the arcade games that have ever been. The emulator is software that emulates the main boards used in the several kinds of Bally and Atari arcade games and then all you need to get are the ROMs that are the very code which is burned into the EPROM chips that are plugged into their main boards!! I have a two CD set I made up with well over 500 games on it!! Yes, I know it isn’t quite the same as the Nintendo and Sony stuff, but pick up the emulators for the old versions of those, which are all over the Net!! The graphics isn’t as hot, but the variety is incredible! Steve

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Snipped to my groups. On the other hand, my work place adopts a child for Christmas.  this year we have a 6 yo girl. Her big desires are a doll house and a big stuffed animal.  She needs clothing of all sorts. So, I spend a few hours crocheting a giant stuffed caterpillar with a music box in the head, spring for a stocking and stuffers (color book, crayons, art pad, barrettes) and buy a shirt or something. The 8 of us each take an item or two from the list, and take care of it. (She’s even getting the dollhouse) The play station and DVD player seem extreme to me. One year, at a larger workplace, our child wanted a bike, but I never heard of electronics. — Angel "Armed and Dangerous.  Isn’t that redundant?  I mean when are they ever armed and gregarious?"  Dennis Miller Home; http://www.geocities.com/valarltd Stories: http://www.geocities.com/lady_aethelynde "

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Yet more stuff crossposted from the childfree ‘group.

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I have been involved in the adopt a family program many times and 2500.00 (US Funds) sounds about right for a family of that size.  Actually, that sounds a little under the amount usually spent if you include purchasing Christmas dinner and a tree for the family.  It just sounds to me like the family has chosen to get one or two large gifts each rather than a bunch of little things.  It shouldn’t matter whether a child believes in Santa or not to have a nice Christmas.  Also, just because someone asks for a 200.00 gift certificate doesn’t mean they won’t be grateful for a 100.00 one.  Families who qualify for the adopt a family program are carefully screened, have very little to absolutely no income due to no fault of thier own, and have probably never owned a DVD player or a PS2.  There are many ways to come up with the money. Donations, Bake Sales, Craft Sales, Car Washes, etc.  Last year, my company got together and donated their favorite recipes, published it into a company cookbook, and sold it for 10 bucks a piece.  The cookbooks made excellent Christmas presents for employees to give to family and friends and 8.50 of each one sold went towards purchasing Christmas for the family.   On a final note, your company had the choice of setting forth their terms when they signed up for the adopt a family program.  Many companies indicate that they want to help the family 100%, others offer less.  The fashion bug in our area requested a family of all females and each family member received 2 complete outfits with accessories.  A local law firm here requested a homeless family and actually paid to put the family in a home AND they even furnished the entire thing.  It is all up to the company to decide what it chooses to do for the family.  If you don’t like your company’s choices, then take it up with your employer, or just don’t participate, you shouldn’t blame the family. Oh, and you can buy DVD players for less than 90.00, CD players "with" speakers for less than 80.00, many of the Game Boy games are less than 30.00, and most the boy band CD’s are around 13.00, if you shop somewhere sensible.  At those prices, you could save yourself about 570.00. Kim

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Good lord.  You would think that the moo would have talked to the kids about their wish lists beforehand so they don’t look so bad.  Whoops, too late. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – >My department at work has decided to adopt >a family this holiday season! I don’t recall any vote on the >matter, but it’s Christmas! You don’t want to seem like a >Scrooge, do you? Of course not. >Let’s meet this deserving family! >The mom (there’s no mention of dad) wants a DVD Player. >She doesn’t mention of any particular DVDs that she wants >with this. but the gift certificate for Blockbuster for >$200 she wants would take care of that. How nice of her >to give the exact amount. >The first boy is 15 years old. He wants a Playstation 2 and >follows that request up with a list of 6 games. >The girl is 12. She wants a 5-cd changer and, of >course, about 20 CDs to go with it. >The second boy is 10. What for him? A Tony Hawk ‘Birdman’ >skateboard. And a Game Boy Advance with to quote >the list ‘a whole buncha games’. >Aren’t the first two a little too old to believe in Santa? >It doesn’t matter. I’m feeling generous. Let’s shop >online for these, poor, unloved, greed…underpvileged >little waifs. >Mommy: I simply selected the first one available at >futureshop.ca – $199.00. And then the gift certificate >that’s $399.00 for her. >Now for Junior. The Playstation itself, along with >Gran Turismo 3, one of the requested games, goes >for $496.99.  Unreal Tournament is $49.99. Dear >or Alive 2: Hardcore is only $79.99, as is ESPN >X-Games Skateboarding. Madden 2002 is $74.99. >NHL 2002, that’s just $69.99. >That’s over $850.00! $851.94 to be precise. And I >haven’t added tax. >Now for the daughter. The first CD player was $149.99. >But no speakers. The first ones that I came across >were $199.00. Now for the CDs. I priced a couple (all >were either boy bands or Twitney clones) $17.99*20. >That’s $359.80. Total to help her have a happy holiday – >$709.78. >Junior #2. I found the skateboard for $109.99 on-line, >but that’s in US funds. I’ll be incredibly generous >with the exchange and call it $160.00. The Game Boy >Advance is $136.99. The games seem to be in the $55.00 >range, so I’ll consicer ‘buncha’ to equal 6, just >like the older boy, and $330.00 for all the games. >$626.99 total. What a bargain. >Total to save this family from having their Christmas >ruined – $2588.70. Before Harris & Chretien get their >funds. There’s 20 people in our department, but we’re >being encouraged to ‘really help them out’ and save >their Christmas. I’m temping there, and sure as hell >can’t afford to spend this much for anybody that isn’t >immediate family. I replied with a slightly more polite version of >a "this so-called "needy" family can go perform an acrobatic sexual >feat". >They’re also being invited to the staff Christmas party >in two weeks so we can see who we are helping. I had >already planned to skip the party, and that was the >clincher. I’d be way too tempted to show up armed. >Although I think it would be fun to get them all the cartridges. >All the CDs, but nothing to play them on. >"Hey Santa Claus you cunt! Where’s me fucking Game Boy!" >—– >The above e-mail address exists solely as a spam catcher. If >you wish to respond, do so via the newsgroup. >"I’ve got the feeling one of these characters is about to see their own >intestines." – Crow T. Robot (The Last Clear Chance)

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