Parent Participation

Good Morning Readers,
I am writing this post this morning because Friday is the day that I volunteer at my son’s school at the library. Parent participation at schools has become a crucial component to keeping many of our schools running efficiently. With so many educational funding cuts in the State budget, so many schools are going without.
You can turn on the news in the evening and hear reports of schools cutting after-school programs, art and music programs all over the country because of the lack of state and local resources.
I am a firm believer in letting my kids have their own time in school without me intruding on their class time, I certainly don’t want to do anything to embarrass them. But I do what I can to help out a school with depleted resources.
But there are so many schools not as fortunate as ours. If you are a daily news watcher like I am, you can see stories about homeless children around the country going to school and not having breakfast in their stomachs or not having the proper equipment to do their school work.
It’s very easy to say that it’s not your problem if you are doing well enough to take care of your own family’s needs. But I ask you to consider, if you can afford a daily cup of coffee at Starbucks, to reach out to needier schools in your area.
Thanks for reading,
Aimee
“Give what you have. To someone, it may be better than you dare to think.” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Oxfam America Unwrapped Christmas Wish List

Hello Readers,
I established a Christmas wish list to benefit Oxfam America’s work to help communities around the world through self-reliance, education and personal care. Anyone can contribute, and I am deeply grateful for your participation. Every little gift counts. I have listed multiple quantities, so all you have to do is update the quantity you wish to make a donation to upon checkout. Everyone always says “I’ll contribute next year,” let’s make this year the year we do that!!
Best Wishes for a Happy Holiday for you and your Families.
Aimee
Aimee’s Oxfam Wish List

Happy Birthday Lady Liberty

Today at Target in Aliso Viejo, I saw some guy getting signatures for a petition to deny illegal immigrants financial aid. Last time I checked, financial aid is merely a school loan that you have to pay back anyway. It’s not always free money. Giving financial aid to anybody (including illegal immigrants) is actually a good thing for this country because 1. The government can charge interest on those loans which brings in more revenue, and 2. By giving out more loans to go to school, there will be a larger educated workforce.
Who’s to say that the next illegal immigrant seeking an education couldn’t be the next Steve Jobs or Nobel winning economist.
This country was built on the the backs of immigrants, with sweat and blood and sacrifice. We pride ourselves on our tenacity and drive for innovation. But I guess now that that guy’s family has been in the country long enough and gained enough prosperity, we can go ahead and close the doors of opportunity on everyone else? I didn’t realize the we’ve reached our capacity? This is not the first time I’ve seen this discrimination against illegal immigrants. During the GOP Debate in Las Vegas, a series of commercials were aired here in California about “Immigration Stabilization,” clearly aimed at keeping more Latin American immigrants from coming into our state.
And on the day that we should be celebrating the 125th birthday of the Statue of Liberty. Happy Birthday Lady Liberty, see what it’s come to?

And so it begins

Everybody in my family is sick (including my husband) except for me, and of course, everyone has different symptoms. Don’t worry, I won’t elaborate. It’s just kind of scary that it has started so early in the school year. My daughter’s preschool teacher just send an email that her young daughter had to be hospitalized with a lung infection.
So parents, don’t let illnesses go untreated, for your children or yourselves. Get to the doctor right away. It’s going to be a tough winter I suspect. Stay well.