The Food on the Bus Goes...

Since there is only so much Treehouse one can watch (In The Night Garden? Honestly? I enjoyed this show much more when it was called Teletubbies! NOT!) we have taken to watching Teletoon Retro when Owen has earned some TV time before bed. Shows like Fraggle Rock, the Smurfs, and Alvin and the Chipmunks have great nostalgia value for mom and dad, and Owen likes them too.

The downside is that this channel, unlike Treehouse, runs commercials. Most of the commercials seem geared towards adults (not adult-content commercials, I know that's where you all went! I just mean they're not advertising sugary breakfast cereal or toys by Mattel). The most popular type of commercial is for World Vision/Christian Children's Fund/Plan. I forget which organization it is, but I'm sure you're familiar with the format. Sad, soulful music plays, while a photo montage of malnourished, sickly children dressed in rags tug at your heartstrings with their big eyes.

Now, I'm by no means disparaging the work that these groups do. Obviously there is a need for third world support, and these organizations need to find a way to get people to open their hearts and their wallets. That's not what this post is about. This post is about Owen's reaction to those commercials.

Once he figured out that his show really does come back on after the commercial break, (THAT was a lesson a long time coming - he would FREAK OUT at every commerical break!) Owen by and large would usually ignore them, taking the opportunity to go get a toy, play, or read a story. But the other day, something must have caught his attention, because I hear the telltale music start up, and then Owen pipes up with "Mommy, what's wrong with those children? Why those children sad?" (Any grammatical errors are his, not mine. Also: first time I've ever heard him use the word "children". He usually says "kids".)

What do you say? Luckily, I had a bit of an opening, thanks to the Christmas Stuff-a-Bus drive for the Food Bank, so I kept it simple. "Those children don't have enough food to eat," I told him, "So they are sad. Remember at Christmas, what did we do to help people who might not have enough food?" "We put food on the bus!" he says. Then: "And I get a COOKIE!" Well, yes. I'd forgotten about the cookie part. "That's right buddy," I tell him, "And that's because when we have lots of something, like food, and there are people that might not have enough, we need to..." "We SHARE with them, Mommy!" he says. Then he points at the TV. "We put some food on the bus tomorrow for those children?" he asks. Bless his heart. (The Chipmunks started butchering warbling some 80's hit at that point, and our chat ended there. I'm choosing to believe that my son is a budding philanthropist, and wasn't just angling for an ever-elusive cookie.)

Steve and I have talked about sponsoring a child through some program. A friend of ours runs a charity event to benefit a village in Malawi, Africa that he spent some time in, and the photos he has are heartwarming. In addition to his charity work, he sponsors a child as well. We always give to his event, but maybe it's time to do more. We'll definitely be thinking about this more in the future, and I'll be doing some research to see which group ensures the greatest dollar amount of your donation actually gets to a child/village. (I hate those horror stories of 90% of every dollar going to "administrative costs"....) We talk often about how blessed we are to have our two healthy boys, and to be able to provide them with everything they need, and not have to worry about money. In the meantime, the next time we're at the grocery store, we'll be picking up something extra for Owen to put in the local Food Bank donation bin.