So...I'm in class right now.  I know! I know! I should be using this time to catch up on school work rather than blogging (note: paying attention?  Not an option.  It's all personal anecdotes and irrelevant tangents)  But actually he is talking about something that made me think a little bit.  (This is a social studies for teachers class btw)  Today's subject matter is Civics, and one of the ways to teach civics is through community service learning.  This is essentially where you get the students involved in a community service project to give them a hands on way of learning civics.  I love this idea!  I hope that by the time I am teaching, I'll be able to use it in my own class.  However I started thinking about my own kids, and how they haven't really done anything like that.  I have actually been thinking about this since MLK day...which is usually considered a day of service; where you use your day off to give back to the community.  I wanted to do something with my kids, but I wouldn't even know where to start finding some sort of project we could ALL (including tiny Ben) be a part of.  When I was younger, I can remember participating with  my family over the summers with the Meals on Wheels, where we took meals to elderly people in the community.  I can remember dreading it when we first had to go, but looking back, I actually have a lot of good memories-there was the sweet old lady with the EXCESSIVELY fat cat-Peter.  She loved that cat, and even gave my sister and I a framed picture of him to show her appreciation of the meals (it was an 8x10 lol).  Then there was the old man, who's name escapes me right now, who always had juicy fruit gum for us.  The gum was probably purchased when the man was a teenager (it was crunchy) but for kids who rarely got to chew gum, this was a treat.  My dad's personal favorite was this sweet old lady who LOVED John Wayne-(my dad loves John Wayne movies)  Every time we'd go she'd find a way to bring John Wayne into the conversation. 
But I digress! (I'm as bad as this professor)  The point is that in spite of having a family of six, my parents still made it a priority for us to be involved in community service.  I want to do that with my kids-in a bigger way  than just writing a check for charity or buying a raffle ticket for a good cause.  I'm going to keep my eyes out for a good opportunity.  Lent starts tomorrow...maybe we'll incorporate it there somehow.

I'd better get back to paying attention.....