A child reaches out at Christmas
Submitted by Debra on Thursday, 11 December 2008
2 Comments
His name is Rigo, and we ran into him while shopping.
Technically, Big Guy ran into a tree decorated with snowman-shaped tags, and nothing gets a 5-year-old's attention quicker at Christmas than colored lights and a fake pine in the grocery store.
Ordinarily, conscious of our temporary financial constraints, I would have rushed past. But Big Guy grabbed a paper that bore Rigo's name. "What's it say, Momma? I see an 8. What else?"
It says his name is Rigo, I said. He wears size medium and needs warm clothing. He wants board games or small cars.
"Why doesn't his mommy buy it for him?"
Because some mommies and daddies are having trouble finding jobs, I said. It means that sometimes there's not a lot of money left for presents.
"So who's going to buy his presents?"
Well, that's why they have the Christmas tree in the grocery store. They hope people will help make sure Rigo and other kids get presents and warm clothes this year.
"Can we help, Mommy? Please!! I love making presents."
I'm quite good at telling the guys "no." I even have an international string of "no" in several languages that I break out when they can't grasp the concept in basic English, and they've heard it a lot since September.
But there was no way I could say "no" to that. Not when Big Guy had just given me a glimpse of a heart of gold buried beneath alternating layers of Sam Zell and Hanibal Lector.
"OK. We'll do that."
For three days since, it's been a constant game of "What would Rigo want."
"I know what Rigo needs," Big Guy smiled as he wagged his finger at me in his "do not argue way." I don't know where he learned that. "I'm going to get him some nice warm pajamas. Some Christmas pajamas. And a soccer shirt. Do you think he likes soccer?"
I could see Rigo's clothing budget exceeding the national debt.
"What kind of cars do you think he'd like? Oh, I know! Hot Wheels! Can I play with them, too?"
"You wouldn't like it if someone played with your presents before you did, would you?"
"No, I wouldn't. OK, we'll buy them and wrap them. Can we go shopping now?"
His name is Rigo. He's 8 and needs warm clothing. He wants board games or small cars.
Today, we're going to go out and make sure he gets it.
Merry Christmas, Rigo.
And thank you, Big Guy, for giving me a glimpse of your light.
Copyright 2008 Debra Legg. All rights reserved.
Oh my goodness!! I am (ashamedly) a thirty-something with Boots’ tendencies toward finger-jabbing and angry accusations...
Wow! Love that he’s so giving. You’ve obviously taught him well!
You know, I’d like to take credit for teaching him well, but increasingly I realize that my role is just getting the heck out of the way and giving the innate goodness a chance to shine through. There’s a good heart there beneath all the bluff and bluster. I just try not to screw it up.
Food »
Egg-free pumpkin scones
For some crazy reason – probably our “Cinnamon Roll Friday” tradition – the guys have decided that they’re entitled to a fresh-from-the-oven breakfast every morning of late. For some reason that’s even crazier, I’ve gone …
Girl Gone Wonk »
Take my kids’ dessert, Michelle. Please.
Note to Sara Palin: Michelle Obama is free to stop by my house any evening and tell my kids they can’t have dessert. After seven-plus years of this war, I’m battle fatigued. Michelle would probably …
Health »
If you’re laying off nurses, you better have a backup plan
The lack of health-care workers in schools is nothing new.
We saw the impact when Big Guy was in kindergarten and cooled his heels in the office for half a day after a snooty secretary diagnosed …
News »
Forcing myself into little circles
I’ve come to the conclusion recently that my perfect friend would be a geeky food-allergic liberal with quirky sense of humor, an obsessive interest in education issues and a tolerance for cute crap my kids …
Reviews »
Bad Kitty’s the purrfect read
In this corner we have Big Guy, who’s bored with every book I bring home and isn’t fond of fiction.
In this corner we have Boots, who could devour Step 3 books if he wanted to, …
School days »
When Accelerated Reader slams on the brakes
It’s a good thing Accelerated Reader wasn’t around when I was in third grade. I doubt there would have been AR tests for the Perry Mason novels I loved.
For unindoctrinated uninitiated, Accelerated Reader bills itself …
By the way
08/18/2009 | 1:34 pm
Sometimes life is all about timing. There’s a chance the soldier took his protective goggles off briefly during training in The Box – 1,000 barren square miles at Fort Irwin where soldiers prepare for desert warfare. Then ...
07/24/2009 | 9:47 pm
So there I was last month, stressing until 2 in the morning over Dad’s “welcome home” cake, worried that it would be ugly or dry or have the wrong color stars. Silly, silly girl. If I’d ...
06/12/2009 | 12:05 pm
I’m kind of frustrated this morning because I don’t have girls. I don’t even know any girls young enough to appreciate this. But if I did, I’d be all over the tutu tutorial – say that ...
05/30/2009 | 8:17 am
Poor Boots. He wakes up every morning chirping with the birds and with a cheery greeting. “It’s a beautiful day!” Somewhere along the line, though, the grind of the world beats the beauty out of it ...
05/21/2009 | 11:18 pm
On one level, it’s simple: When you’re about to fall, just let go and fall. Trying to stop the tumble or, even worse, flailing your arms and legs as you land will make it worse. Somewhere ...
05/20/2009 | 9:03 pm
05/20/2009 | 10:18 am
This one landed in my Twitter stream just as Boots was diving into a bowl of … Cocoa Puffs: “New peanut flour warning for General Mills cereals.” Luckily, he’s not the child who’s allergic and Big ...
05/19/2009 | 12:56 am
From the country that wants to censor the Internet worldwide in the name of protecting its children comes another bizarre project, also in the name of “protecting children” The British have launched a database, at a ...
05/18/2009 | 11:38 pm
Do I ever feel like a dolt after my post last night lamenting the difficulties of finding dye-free snow-cone syrups. I went to a Middle Eastern market today to pick up some hummus ingredients and ran ...
05/16/2009 | 8:16 pm
05/15/2009 | 10:15 pm
Six hundred and eight three killed in Afghanistan. Four thousand, two hundred and ninety six killed in Iraq. Many stories of incredible lives, often amazing sacrifices. This is one such story. Army Maj. Steven Hutchison survived two ...
To subscribe