Betsy, Kris, your iPod for underpriviledged kids shows your heart is in the right place, but as the big sister of a woman who spent her entire teenagehood in a group home and then spent time in a maternity group home, I can't see how the iPod thing would be anything but disastrous. They'll be stolen in no time flat (those kids will steal shampoo, for goodness sake!). I think the ipod as gift is frivolous. How about something more positive: gift certs to a bookstore, gift certs to a clothing store, $50 worth of toiletries each - anything that will have a positive and lasting impact on their quality of life?

I think you're motivation is a wonderful, but I just had to register my thoughts on the actual choice of gift.

My sisters and I make a donation every year on behalf of our parents to the girls and their babies at the maternity half-way house. Sometimes wegive money to the house itself to go towards supplies and oppourtunities and sometimes we make a gift bag for each girl with baby supplies and toiletries.

Betsy, I did the whole audiology thing after my second child... I was so hoping I could get a hearing-aid to turn it off!

As a N'ville resident, and a former teacher in N'ville (my husband is), I think your idea is really lovely about the Ipods. You guys are the real deal, with big hearts.

Tara

Did someone say "Croncast Christmas Pledge Drive"?...Proceeds given by listeners to the group home? Sell Croncast T-Shirts? Ideas abound...

Kris,
Evan is also terrified of his nose hair trimmer. Though I have walked him through the process several times, he is still terrified of the thing. And we're talking about a guy who would hang off the edge of a mountain, but trim his nose hairs, GOD NO! I always end up laughing then he yells..."YOU STICK IT UP YOUR NOSE THEN!" Hahahah Good times:)

I don't blame Evan one bit. They are like a tool that you would remove an appendix with.

And Ben, great idea . . . you've set some wheels in motion.

I don't think I ever was upset that Santa was not real, but I was very, very unhappy as a child when I realized that magic wasn't real and dragons don't exist.

PS. Get the kids WEIRD AL -- they love him.

But $20 of music is nothing. How about a fund drive for tunes? And some kid podcasts (they are free- 'Doctor Floyd' is a good one)

GREAT idea Ben! Count me in on the pledge drive.

Xmas in Oz is nothing like it is in Nth hemisphere. For starters it doesn’t get dark around 9pm. It’s normally hot (30ish degrees Celsius). Most businesses (non-retail) close between Xmas and NYD and people take their annual leave. So for most kids get to play street cricket with their (and everyone else’s) Dad, who are all half cut on beer until 10pm. It wasn’t till I was 6 and moved to England for a while that I even realized that Xmas had anything to do with religion. PS: Thanks for inspiring me to make significant donation to a charity this Xmas.

Me: "...directly from your twenties to your fifties"

Betsy: "I need a hearing aid..."

Me: Your Honor, I rest my case :-)

I like the iPod idea. If I were in that situation having my own music would be a great morale booster and retreat.

Some geek considerations - iPods are REALLY a lot happier if you've got a computer to install music, and to charge them (the new ones don't include chargers).

You can't really use a public computer to load music because the iPod is tied to a particular iTunes account. Connect an iPod to a "strange" computer and the first thing it does is wipe out the music on it.

I haven't really thought this through, but how about a nice AA powered CD player, a dozen batteries, a kid-specific CD you discover from your detective work and a gift certificate for another one to a record or electronics store?

They can easily get AA batteries (which can last 12 hours in even a $30 player) and add their own music as they can afford CD's, or borrow them from their friends or the library.

Maybe I'm over-thinking this. Perhaps they've got a computer or access to one in their residence these days.

Put up a Paypal button in any case, though!

Christmas at the Equator: I remember mowing the lawn on Christmas day in Puerto Rico. Just ain't the same.

Cheers,
Bob

Kris and Betsy...
I'm loving the nearly DAILY casts... I'm be sad when the 300th comes, b/c that will mean that you'll be headed back to the old schedule...

boo, hoo...

BUT, Kris, If you guys buy the 6 Ipods, I'll volunteer to get the music for them...
say 2 albums per Ipod.. so, a total of about 12 albums... Just let me know, and I'll make the purchase... or send you the money...

Keep up the great work,
NCN

One other thing...
To the folks who think that the gift should be more "practical"... An Ipod will never, truly, be a "practical" gift. It's expensive, unique, and very very cool... If ANYBODY deserves a non-standard, non-practical gift, it's these kids...

quick story...
my wife was teaching 1st grade in a VERY poor school... she had a class full of really poorly behaved kids, kids with low self esteem, anger management problems and TONS of troubles at home. The had old clothes, etc...

Well, one of her students would go around, after lunch, and gather up all of the un-eaten desserts.. you know, sweet-rolls, chocolate bars, etc... and my wife noticed this...

she asked him what he was doing... and he said he was collecting the snacks for himself and his 4 little brothers.. he was collecting THEIR SUPPER AND BREAKFAST (their parents were so lazy, they didn't even bother to bring them to school for FREE breakfast...)...

Well, my wife breaks down, and asks if we might be able to give her kids a special party... (NOW, these kids were TERRIBLE... BAD manners, bad language, everything...

But, she wants to give them a party b/c she knows that they have so little at home...
so, she asks me if I will go to walmart and buy the sams sodas, sams chocolate chips and sams chips... you know, the basics, the "practical" things... I said sure...

BUT I came back that school with a cooler FULL of ice-cold Pepsi, real Coke, and mountain Dew...
I had cookies: Town House
Candy Bars: Baby Ruth and Snickers
Chips: Lays , Doritos, Pringles..

And 4 HUGE x-large Dominos pizzas...

PLUS... toys for all of the kids... cars, trucks, d3lls, etc...

For 3 hours one hot October day, these kids got to escape the "practical" realities of their lives and enjoy a super "impractical party"...

I HAD THE TIME OF MY LIFE...

Do the ipod thing b/c the kids will absolutely FREAK OUT!!!

hey! we are just sitting down to do a show
so many people are interested in donating we are adopting the group home for xmas
and whatever donations we get we will be passing on- the group home workers are putting together a list for me
thanks you rock!
betsy