This is it: BLOG ACTION DAY!!

I saw this notice last week on blogger homepage and immediately signed up to participate in it.

On October 15th, bloggers around the world will unite to put a single important issue on everyone’s mind - the environment. Every blogger will post about the environment in their own way and relating to their own topic. Our aim is to get everyone talking towards a better future. With 155,000 blogs and 12 million readers this is all about mass participation - and it's very exciting to elsamart!

Wanting to put my 2 cents about promoting awareness, I'd like to put something out there. TEACH OUR KIDS.

I have been working with teens mostly, but also younger kids depending on the project, for the last 10 years. I have seen first-hand the rewards and, sadly, the damages of this generation of kids not being taught many fundamentals by their families. None of you who are not in some sort of teaching position can remotely decipher how BAD it is and how WORSE it is getting each year.

But the one constant remains: no matter what the subject is - if we don't teach our kids to respect, love and be concerned for our environment and Mother Nature - then their really is no hope to help save it.

I do not blame the kids, folks - it is the parents that I'd like to address. It is simple. Teach your kids to turn off lights. Teach them to take a 10 minute shower - not 20 to (horrors!) 40 minute ones. Teach them to turn off the faucet when they are brushing their teeth - do you know that 2 gallons of water is wasted each time by people brushing their teeth leaving the water running?

Perhaps instead of them sitting around (a whole other epidemic) playing video games, watching too much TV, on computers or their cellphones or IPODS why not designate one day of the week to be "Fun Day with NO Electricity".

Take them to the park to play, make them play outside in the yard, teach them to make mud pies in the dirt, play in the snow, take them on a beautiful hike by the beach, in the mountains, in the desert, ride bikes, roller skate, go for a run with them, teach them to fly a kite (I know so many kids who have never TOUCHED a kite in their lives), play with their dogs or cats, go to the zoo, read in a hammock outside, plant a flower or vegetable garden in your yard. Watch a glorious sunset.

The ironic thing is that all the above are things that some of us and our parents did ANYWAY on a daily basis as after-school entertainment. Lamentably, it is foreign to many of our youth in America nowadays. And only by our suggesting it, forcibly designating it and hopefully participating in it WITH them - can we teach our kids that their are OTHER things out there to be aware of besides being plugged in to the latest overpriced gadget.

Teach them that the benefits of dedicating 1 day a week to this means they will get more exercise, they will not use up for 1 day a bunch of precious electricity, it can be a wonderful bonding time or play day between parents and their kids or teens. Tell them stories (kids of all ages LOVE stories of their parents) how you used to fly kites with your brother or how you planted a garden of flowers when you were a kid in 4-H club. Teach them that Nature and preserving it is of such great importance and that each one of us, truly: EACH ONE OF US - can do our part by being aware and not careless or lazy.

The benefits of my suggestion are boundless. Exercise, environmental awareness, actually talking to and spending time with your child or teen... come on - - there is not one single negative in this equation besides those of you who mistake my earnestness with being preachy...

Do your part and help conserve in some manner.

God Bless.

Editor's Note - I also highly recommend checking out this link about Blog Action Day.

Mexican Birthday Parties

The Top 15 ways to tell it's a MEXICAN birthday party:

1. Some of the guests didn't bring a gift - but brought
extra uninvited kids.

2. The party is separated into women cooking, men
drinking, and kids playing.

3. The party is at Chuck E. Cheese but they brought their
own food, cake and a Pinata.

4. It's a child's party, but there are more grown ups
than children.

5. It's "M'ijo's" 1st birthday and the party food is carne
asada, arroz, frijoles and 10 cases of beer.

6. For entertainment, instead of playing pin the tail on
the donkey, there is usually a televised baseball or futbol (SOCCOR) game, or a live fight.

7. The party was supposed to be over at 5pm, but its 7:30pm and the party is just starting.

8. The host calls someone who's on their way and tells
them to stop and get some tortillas and ice.

9. You hear someone go up to the birthday child and say, "Mira, que lindo. I'm going to have to get you something next week when I get paid."

10. The party is Saturday, and you get a call from the hostess Friday saying, "I'm giving M'ijo a birthday party tomorrow at 3pm"

11. Some guest bring gifts that are still in the Wal-Mart bag.

12. The cake didn't come from the store; it came from the mother of the comadre of your best friend's sister who makes really good cakes.

13. You are told you have to save your plate and fork you ate your food with, so you can eat your cake.

14. Guests automatically wrap up a plate of food and cake to take home.

15. It's M'ijo's birthday, but since his cousin Maria is there and her birthday is in a few days, it becomes Mijo's and Maria's party.

I know that I can relate - verdad, mi gente querido? :)