Volunteering During the Holidays?

dskinner — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 07:48:50 -0800

I've always felt a bit uneasy volunteering during the holidays - to help the homeless, the poor, the otherwise downtrodden - primarily because I find the spirit of helping people during a particular season creepy. For many, I think the holidays has become a period for justifying inaction during the rest of the year and relieving oneself of the guilt that that inaction comes with. Of course, I know this sounds slightly ridiculous, slightly humbuggerish, possibly uncaring. But you get my broader point. So, my question is: what volunteering activities do you find socially efficacious and personally meaningful? Is anybody volunteering somewhere, say, tomorrow, this week, or this month, that you'd like to encourage others to think about, too? What kinds of volunteer efforts do you know of that effect people's lives in ways that might actually alter - however slightly - the actual conditions of their lives and their suffering? I'm in New York, and would particularly be interested to hear what you're doing there. But maybe we could build a list of good things to do more broadly. And not just during "the holidays."

should we tell our daughter the tryuth about santa?

crazyray — Sat, 17 Dec 2005 23:16:32 -0800

Should I lie to my three year old daughter about Santa Claus? As a child, my wife and I were both taught that Santa "sees you when you are sleeping, knows when you are awake!' In addition, the santa mythologoy included the most bizzare cruelty of all... if you weren't a good child, Snata would actually go out of his way to put coal into your stocking.
Here's the question.... I want to be honest with my children, and I think this is a silly lie to perpetuate. We are not particularly religous... I consider myself agnostic and my wife spirtutal but not religous.
Should we lie to our child about Santa?

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Volunteering During the Holidays?

should we tell our daughter the tryuth about santa?