On Children and Silliness and the World

"To be nobody but yourself -- in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else -- means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting." ~e e cummings, poet

You have to love the way younger children have a way of ignoring what people think of them and being themselves. Sadly, it's something that leaves most of them somewhere around the teen years when peer pressure dictates that they be like everyone else.

I'm not sure why this happens since this age group is always crowing about being individuals, and many even claim "non-conformity" yet look exactly like their friends.

Hmm... Doesn't quite makes sense, does it?

One gift I've often prayed for my children to have is that of not changing for the world -- not being a "sheep," but being who God designed them to be. It's so important to hang on to that throughout life.

It was one of the reasons we chose to homeschool them...to give them a fighting chance against the peer pressure that is so rampant out there.

I took this video on the day they sold lemonade to show them that -- though it may prove a bit embarrassing later in life -- they didn't care what the world thought of them that day. If a little bit of silliness was needed to sell a few more glasses of lemonade for Alex's Lemonade, they were more than willing to do that.

God bless them for that. What a gift!

(If the video doesn't play, click this link to see it on Google Video. Also, please be sure to pause or stop the sidebar music video.)

Taking a Stand

Yesterday, the kids participated in K12's Operation Lemonade, a weekend-long event taking place across the nation to benefit Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation -- which raises money to help fund research on pediatric cancers. (You can read more about Alex Scott here.)

They spent a total of 3 1/2 hours -- from 10 a.m. to 1:30-ish -- singing songs, chanting jingles, and dancing dances to bring in customers and donations to their stand. And it was a perfect day -- very hot!

I reminded them that every quarter helped the cause, to be polite and offer their customers change. No one wanted any.

And the whole event was something to behold...one of those admire-from-afar moments in a mommy's life when you remember how fun it is to get kids involved in raising money for something so worthy.

I'm proud to say they raised $44.50 from all their efforts.

One girl's vision became two more kids' mission.

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Why not hold your own lemonade stand for Alex this summer?

You can send the money you raise to:

Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation
333 East Lancaster Avenue, #414
Wynnewood, PA 19096