Thanksgiving tradition-delurk for charity

All is well--thanks for the concern over La-la's being on the lam(b) [Thanks, Nancy--you know I love a good pun]. We do have a spare--we have to have a body double for Lambie so that she can occasionally be washed. We've ordered another one (thanks, Gund for continuing to make this critter!) and for now, crisis has been averted.

But posting about losing one of my child's many, many stuffed animals (some of whom should, as Toyfoto suggests, probably be sent to Iraq) and then reading this post (thanks, Granny, for posting about it) made me feel a little sheepish (if you'll, ahem, pardon the pun). I've been hunting the interwebs lately in search of a new Family Tradition, because I think we need to start one this year, this being our first Orphan Thanksgiving since we were in the Peace Corps.

So it looks like I've found one. I admit it, I want D to grow up comfortable, yes, but more than that, I want him to understand the responsibility that living a comfortable life comes with--the compulsion to notice that there are those not as comfortable and to do what you can to share what you have. I complain about my mountains of consumer debt, repairs to an old house, and the money-suck that is the diaper industry, but this Thanksgiving, I need to remember that my kid has both parents around, and, as lousy as we may be sometimes, we are committed to him and his needs. This alone makes him Fortunate. In addition, he always has diapers, he has toys "enough and to spare," and we could probably feed another whole child on food he has the luxury to refuse to eat sometimes. So our new Thanksgiving tradition will be to help out kids who don't have what he has and to remind ourselves to be Very, Very Grateful that we have So Very Much.

And I will donate an additional dollar to Little Wishes (or, if you prefer, another foster organization--just specify) for every person I can get to comment, so if you've been wanting to delurk, do it now. For those of you who don't know what delurk means, it means if you never comment, this might be a good time. I'd love to hear where you read from and how you found mommymatic. If you are a regular commenter, you still count, just leave a comment you'll earn your buck. IT'S FOR THE KIDS, PEOPLE.

Also, because I know you are all going to be shopping online like moi this season, you can do it through this link and companies will donate a certain amount of their proceeds to the cause.

I'd love to hear about your Thanksgivings traditions, philanthropic or otherwise (one of our other traditions might be "Feast for the Beasts" at Hogle Zoo, wherein they feed the animals traditional Thanksgiving foods on Thanksgiving night).