Impacting the lives of others
So, through a friend and a group and a 365 photo project, I came across this contest here: HP Magic Giveaway. It’s also here at ‘stop, drop and blog‘. And, I decided to give it a try.
The contestants are supposed to blog about how they are impacting the lives of others. That sounds so noble. And, it also sounds a bit immodest to brag about how you’re impacting the lives of others (hopefully in a positive way). But, I thought, I do impact the lives of others. I spend way too much time doing it. I could list them all out & sound like superwoman (or, at least, ‘good’woman).
The thing is, though, that not a single impactful thing that I’m doing is being done for selfless reasons. I get something out of all of them. Or, my kids do, which, in the long run, is still selfish on my part, because I take pride in doing this parenting thing responsibly and to the best of my ability.
Let’s take the foster puppies, to begin with. Here’s one of them right after it was born…
The Caseys at 4 Paws 4 U 4 Ever rescue dogs and puppies from high-kill shelters, mostly down south. They drive them here and find them homes, giving up their weekends to Petco adoption fairs, giving up their home to dogs, crates and dog runs. We do foster care for them. We’ll take a litter or two of pups or a pregnant dog and take care of them until they’re ready to be adopted. We clean up the mess, feed them, wake up in the night with them, take care of them, help the Casey’s with the website, did I mention cleaning up the mess? And, sure, it’s great to do all that for the good of the pups, to save the lives of the dogs.
But, what we really get out of it, the thing that makes it worthwhile for us, is that the kids get this endless stream of puppy fun in the house. They’re learning responsibility. And, they’re learning how good it feels to do good things in the world. They’ve always got a puppy to cuddle with when they need it, too.
And, there’s the PTO, the neverending PTO. The monthly meetings, the daily emails, the fundraisers, the working from home so that I’ll have time to go in and make copies of things, the personality conflicts, the weeks where I feel like I’m spending more time at the school than the kids, the begging and dealing for donations, the planning and research and dealing with last minute changes… All of this to make the school a great place for the teachers to teach and the children to learn.
But, of course, I wouldn’t do it if my kids didn’t attend that school. In fact, they seemed surprised a few weeks ago when I told them that, once they graduated from the school & moved on to middle school, I wouldn’t be on the PTO at their elementary school anymore. They thought that I was doing it for my own enjoyment. No, it’s just for them, so that I can know for sure that my kids go to a school where a group of parents, including me, are doing their best to fill their school years with good memories and to get them the best education we can while they are there.
Oh, and let’s not forget the scouts! We are lucky to have another PTO mom who has taken on the Girl Scout troop for my daughter’s class. But, no one was willing to take on Cubmaster for my son’s pack, after our old Cubmaster moved on. No one, that is, until I did it. Not because I love organizing pack meetings, planning events and coordinating volunteers. Not because I have a great fondness for the BSA and the ideals they represent. There are even a few BSA principles that I don’t agree with at all. Not because I selflessly want to give of my time so that all of the boys in the community can have a scouting experience in our Pack.
No, I’m doing it because I want my son to have that scouting experience, the sense of community and comraderie with the other boys. It’s for him that I’m doing it. And, for me, as his parent.
I’m sure that, once the kids are grown, I will still find ways of impacting other lives. It does feel good to do it. It makes me feel like I’m using my time on this planet wisely, productively. It beats spending time just thinking about yourself. I don’t think I’d like myself very much if that’s what I did with my days here.
But, even with my selfish motives, I can’t deny that I’m impacting other lives. I’m just doing it because it benefits me, my sense of self and my feelings of pride in what I do & who I am.
Does that count?
What would I do with all of that awesome hardware and software? Wow!
Well, PTO Movie Night is coming up in January. The kids are voting on the movie this week, but, so far, Kung Fu Panda is in the lead. So, I know I could use the movie for that.
And, my current kitchen laptop is no longer a laptop. It’s a laptop keyboard attached to a ‘basement monitor’ - something leftover from an upgrade back in the 90’s. That’s the computer where I sit to do all of my PTO, puppy rescue website updates, Cub Scout stuff. So, I’m sure that would be replaced. And, the old one would be saved or donated or craigslisted or freecycled.
My stepdaughter’s off to college next year, so that would take care of another one of the laptops. And, would be one less thing to worry about as she goes out into the world.
And, the printer would definitely be used well for all of the various charity & community organizing things I decide to do over the years. There’s always another flyer waiting to be printed, copied, collated and distributed.
The mini 1000 is enticing, too. I could access my overfilled Yahoo calendar from all kinds of meetings, to see where I could fit something else in.
The rest of the things… I’m not sure yet. But, one thing I am sure of, whatever I did decide to do with them would benefit someone, some organization or person in need, but would, eventually, leave me feeling like I made a choice that I could be proud of and that would teach the kids to do the same.
