It's the Charity Event of the Year

My kids came home from school last week heartbroken for the victims of the earthquake in Haiti.

"So many people died, mom."

"People don't even have their houses anymore."

"There are kids that lost their parents."

I shushed the boys before their sister lost all control of her emotions. She doesn't really know pain. Her most painful experience is having to eat oatmeal for breakfast when she wants waffles, and that's the way I like it. Their lives should be all butterflies. And sparkles. And rainbows.

But they couldn't forget about the people on that island who are suffering.

They thought there was something they could do.

So they hatched a plan. I guess this is what it's like to have a fifth grader.

(When I was in fifth grade, my sister and I had a lemonade stand. My dad saw us out front, and suggested we sell canned soda instead. He offered to buy the soda, we would sell it and pay him back the cost of the soda and keep the profits. We made something like Twenty-Five dollars that day, and we never repaid him. I kept waiting for him to bring it up, but he never did, so we pocketed all the cash. It's okay, though, because a child can never repay all that their parents do for them.)

This Saturday my driveway will be converted to a Hot Chocolate for Haiti stand. They are selling hot chocolate and donating the money they make to the Red Cross.

You have no idea how badly I want to take over the whole thing.

"What are your goals? How much money do you want to make? Then you need to tell at least X amount of people about your project. Here, let me make the flyer. The more people that know about it, the more people you'll have. You should get a local business to match your proceeds dollar for dollar."

Instead, I'm making small suggestions. Stella took a flyer (that her brothers made without any help from moi) to ballet last night, and came home with a couple of bucks from friends that couldn't make it on Saturday but wanted to support her.

They braved sub-zero temperatures and delivered flyers to all the neighbors.

I'm also doing my part by asking my local readers (all 5 of you) to stop by my house between 10:30 and 1:00 (2 1/2 hours? Are they kidding me?) for a delicious cup of hot cocoa. Yesterday they made some cookies to sell and I think I heard something about a plan to make brownies today after school.

If nothing else, you can come by and mock me from your warm car as I freeze my a$$ off supporting my kids. And Haiti.