Cancer Survivor, writing about Health and Fitness as you age

Some time ago I had blogged about the headache of what to do with roadside beggars.  Do I give something to them or not? ( children-makes-my-head-hurt ) In the end we found something that works for us. A friend of ours is involved in charity work and suggested we prepare some gallon bags of stuff that might be useful for a homeless person and then give those out in lieu of money.  It worked great! I got my little helpers involved and got quite a few bags ready, so my husband and I each  have a couple of bags in the car that we can hand out at anytime.  The items have to have a long shelf life and should be able to withstand the temperatures of your environment. Here's what we put: 2 nutrigrain or granola bars 2 bags of cookies 2 bags of Chips 2 juice boxes 1 pair of socks You can change it up and put raisins, individual boxed cereals, pop tarts, crispy treats, etc. Some folks also include a small gift card redeemable only at the grocery (<$10). ...

6B5PM3PSEY3S ..amongst other parts of my body.  More and more as the children get older (Lucas is now 8), I find myself having to negotiate the dark, murky and treacherous waters of philosophical issues (I can barely get that out correctly). Take for example, your simple roadside beggar.  Do you give money to roadside beggars?  We don't.  As we've tried to explain to Lucas, we give money to organizations that provide support for the homeless, therefore we feel there is a place for these individuals to go.  If we gave money to everyone who we saw begging, we don't know if they will spend it on food or buying a lottery ticket.  By giving it to local community organizations we are more confident that our money is being used effectively. But is that the point? Is it worth it to demonstrate charity to our son, to just give regardless of what the money will be used for?  How can we show him charity and help him make thoughtful decisions about how to...

So every year Lucas' school has a "giving tree" where they put up a Christmas tree with ornaments and each ornament is a "wish item" from a needy family/child. You could select an ornament and provide the item for the family. We selected one this year (again). I remember last year thinking that I wanted to include a note apologizing that they got us. This year, I felt no different. You'd think that having had one year to sort this out in my head I'd be better about what I give and to whom. Why the turmoil you ask? Here's the story. When I look at the gifts that other people have given, the wrapping alone is sooo fabulous that I can only imagine what is inside (and no...the wrapping is unlikely to be the only fantastic thing about the gift). We only have so much charity funds to give out and sometimes I wonder if we didn't select an ornament, would someone else have selected it? And given something better? Every year I agonize about this ch...