I am the daughter of an earthy father who is a drug addict and a homeless man. He was lost, in a manner of speaking, at an early age, he tried to get cleaned up and be a proper contributing member of society, but he never did make much of himself. He is a good man, a lost soul, but a good hard working man and was for as long as he could be.
I was angry for years, but the anger didn't seem to accomplish much. I always felt like he didn't deserve anything from us but everyone around us fed him and clothed him anyways... I don't know exactly what changed my views on my dad and just about every homeless I come across, but I can't seem to be able to drive passed one without doing something to help the situation, weather it be food or money.
Unbeknownst to me, the kids were watching and learning.
Yesterday, on our way home from visiting my sister there was a homeless man on the corner of Hwy 30 & Eastchase Pkwy. Anika asked me "Mommy, aren't you going to give him any money?" To which I replied that I didn't have any. Kaleb asked "What about food?" [usually I have fruits or something similar in the car. Mostly for the kids which they have given up once or twice before for a person who needs it more than we obviously do] and I told them that I was sorry, I didn't have anything. No money, change, food... nothing. It was a rare occurrence but it was what it was.
Kaleb became quiet, his disappointment was clear in his face. Anika became a mess of tears and once home they tears continued as she searched for every single cent she could come across. Kaleb gave her his piggy bank which had more change than I know and they put in all together and asked and asked and asked to go back and take the man the money. I asked her why this was so important and she said she wanted him to eat, I told her to pray that someone else would drive by and have money to give him and she said "No! He needs love mom".
Michael finally agreed to drive back to where we had seen him and I told them that there was a chance he had moved on. There is a DMW in that area and so there are many cops. I've seen a few homeless get arrested for panhandling on the overpass. Anika then proceeded to inform me that if we didn't take her she would cry and if he wasn't there she would cry... and off we went, but just as I had feared he was no longer there or anywhere near by for that matter. In the end, true to her word, there was a lot more crying involved. Kaleb who hates to see his sister cry went into solution mode. They came up with this plan, they took their plastic empty Easter eggs, and filled them all with money, not much money, I think roughly 2$ or 3$ per egg and then this morning, they left the eggs in the car so that they can already have the money there they next time we run into a homeless person, which believe it or not, its becoming a very common sighting lately.
Its amazing the things that they pick up when you aren't paying attention.We often tell our kids to "do as I say and not as I did" but sadly that just doesn't work that way. I never realized they were paying that much attention. usually, with the kids in the car Ill do simple things to help. My sister and I tend to be a little more drastic, when the kids are not around, especially if we do not have any cash on hand, like order a meal from a near by place and cross a highway to feed the person...
Everything you do is an example to your kids. Some kids will choose to follow the same paths that their parents have taken while others will choose a different path all together, either way, in the end your actions speak volumes and your children are listening.
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