Holiday ramblings...

So now that we are on the fourth day of Christmas,  (and those 4 calling birds woke me up early this morning),  I thought I'd take a minute and catch you all up on what's been happening 'round here.

I had a hard time getting into the Christmas mood this year.  Not sure why really, but I just didn't have my normal giddy elfishness going on.  Perhaps it had to do with moving down here to Salisbury and not being in my own house for the holidays.   It might also be that with homeschooling, we didn't have all the usual school/parish activities leading up to the big day.  This was the first year in a long time I didn't have a Christmas pageant to attend, or Breakfast with Santa, nor any of the craft fairs and other events that we usually volunteered for at St. Pius X.  And sadly, we said goodbye to a really wonderful lady right before Christmas.  Miss Neva, David's grandmother, passed away suddenly at her home in Ayden, NC.  I am grateful to have met her and spent time with her, as she was truly the embodiment of grace and charm.  The world is a bit less lovely without her in it.

We did attend the Christmas Ceili in Baltimore...always a good time.  (Shameless plug here:  if you are ever in Baltimore on the first Saturday of the month Oct-May, the Emerald Isle Club hosts a ceili at  the Parkville American Legion on Putty Hill Ave.  7 pm -11 pm.  It's a blast!)  Our good friends, the Reddings were there with the adorable Meagan, and dancing and laughs were the order of the night.

                                                
But, when you have a darling 10 year old daughter, the show must go on...and it did!  Cookies were baked (thank you to Ron and Joanne for allowing me to commandeer their kitchen for an ENTIRE day!), songs were sung (thanks to Dave and his guitar), presents were wrapped (on Christmas Eve!) , and a delightful time was had by all.  Our dear friends Tina and Kurt invited the 3 O'Neill girls to join them for a Christmas Eve potluck dinner, and we contributed our dad's famous fondue, Monica's Delmahvelous Meatballs, and witty banter.  Then on Christmas morning:  the main event....unwrapping gifts!

As you can see by this picture, Santa knew exactly how to make a little girl happy!

Aunt Monica hit the nail on the head as well

Hope your Holidays are filled with love and peace.

Seriously!

This wasn't my original topic for today, but I had to write about it.  
I was conducting my daily job search online this morning and came across a posting seeking a "Professional Nanny/Sitter".  I have no great desire to raise anyone's child but my own; but I went ahead and read the listing.  To summarize, this person is looking for a Nanny to care for her 18 month old, approximately 13-15 hrs/day, five days a week.  The pay?  $150/wk.  WOW!  That averages out to about $2/hr.  You read that right....$2 per hour to take care of an 18 month old.  I charged more as a teenage babysitter in 1984.

I completely understand the difficulty of being a single mom (I am one!) and trying to work and support yourself.  And I know how hard it is to find good childcare.  But who do you think is going to take a $2/hr job????   Other civilized countries have state run child care that runs 24/7, and pays the caregivers living wages while remaining affordable for parents.  Why can't we have these same options available?  I'm lucky, I have family willing to help care for my daughter.  So I can work my wine industry job, which involves night hours, and know that she is safe and well loved.  Not everyone is so blessed.

I know we have a plethora of issues in this country right now, but maybe we need to step back for a minute and take a look at what's really important.  Much lip service is paid to the importance of family, education, and keeping our kids safe and healthy.  Funny how we don't seem to do much to actually back up those ideas.