In my career and in parenting I’ve learned about picking my battles. You have to save your fighting inclinations for the things that are worth warring over. Now, I have a 16 year old and plenty of battles from which to choose. So, when he announced his intentions of sleeping on the sidewalk in front of Toys R Us, so he could be at the front of the line to buy a Nintendo, we had to seriously tap into our arsenal of reason. Never mind the fact that it was 30 degrees Fahrenheit outside and that we raised this boy without the benefit of electronic equipment such as TV, except for occasional videos, and still only have the first, most basic of Nintendos. As a little guy, other parents felt sorry and recorded Power Rangers for him, lest he miss out. Forget the constant battles over school work and the moral dilemma of conspicuous consumption, was this one really important enough to invest huge amounts of energy?
I packed him up in multiple layers, a thermos of peppermint tea, a foil space blanket and educated him as to the symptoms of hypothermia. I warned him it was so cold outside that the shelters were rounding up the homeless into a variety of warming stations. I tried to instill reason in him by equating the monetary outlay in terms of hours worked at his just above minimum wage job.
I secretly hoped that upon closing at 11:00 pm, Toys R Us management would see these kids, realize the liability issues and assign them a number, sending them home to return at dawn. Nuh uh, for them this was a priceless p.r. opportunity. Passersby where of two ilks. The "way to go" types and the proselytizers – there are kids starving and you waste your time and money hanging in front of a capitalistic pig toy store.
When I awoke at 6:30 a.m. I looked out the window to see an inch of snow on the ground. I tuned into the AM radio news station hoping not to hear of spoiled middle class kids sent to the hospital, victims of exposure. The telephone rang.
A jubilant Bryant proclaimed victory. He was #2 in a line of 50 waiting for Nintendo Wii’s and Tickle Me Elmo’s. Accompanying him in line were dads and kids (no moms, go figure) and at the front was a homeless guy, paid to wait it out, since he was in his element anyway. I’m too tired to figure out the moral implications of that one.
So my boy, for the first time in his life, is ahead of the pack in electronics anyhow.He’s created a memory to last a lifetime, he’s no worse for the wear and even mom survived unscathed.
That’s my story on this, the eve of Christmas, my third in blogland. Wishing you a Merry Christmas, full of the real meaning and blessings, and hope for a better year to come.
Life's a Stitch 
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