Comments on: Teaching Children Through Our Actions

By: Stephen at Chinaberry

Stephen at Chinaberry — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 23:34:46 +0000

I love Anne Stalfort’s book give-away idea.

You may also want to take a look at: http://www.bookcrossing.com

With their program, you can often see what happens to your book after you leave it in the wild.

By: Janet

Janet — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 19:51:46 +0000

Thank you for your kind email, Stephanie! It made my day.

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 20:24:40 +0000

Janet,
You wrote, “Sometimes when I see things that really irritate me, I have this longing to know if they irritate others too”. I feel exactly the same way, and just wanted you to know that I’ve witnessed similar scenes to the one you wrote about. I can’t count the times I’ve seen SUVs with a single-driver zipping around on the highways, sporting some “save the Earth” bumper sticker and wonder if I’m the only one who rolls my eyes. But people don’t always like having such things pointed out — it takes us out of our comfort zone. Regardless, I didn’t think the piece was condescending at all. I thought it was a gentle way of reminding us to look at whether our actions support our words, because it’s true, our children ARE watching. If we don’t like reading about it, that doesn’t make it any less true.
Peace,
Stephanie

By: Janet

Janet — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 18:03:36 +0000

Oh dear. Hi there, Courtney. It’s Janet here, the woman who wrote this piece. I was worried that I may have sounded a little heavy-handed. Thanks for saying something. Maybe I had just listened to an interview about global warming on NPR, but on this particular morning, it really got my goat when I saw this little bottleneck at the ATM, when it would have made more sense just to run into the lobby – especially on such a beautiful day. But, hey, it’s not like I always do things that make sense either! Sometimes when I see things that really irritate me, I have this longing to know if they irritate others too, and sharing my feelings in Dear Friends letters has been a way to do that. With each one, I’m always concerned that I come across in a ranting and raving way. I really desire to speak my mind without sounding nasty and condescending, but it looks like this time, I wasn’t so successful. (And you should have seen my letter before our editor toned it down – ha!) Anyway, I’m so sorry my piece left a bad taste in your mouth.

By: Courtney

Courtney — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 03:08:36 +0000

Wow, I was floored by the nasty, condescending tone of this piece. When did using an ATM become a terrible offense, for goodness sake? I have been a loyal Chinaberry customer for years and have always enjoyed reading through your catalog, but this left a very bad taste in my mouth.

By: Anne Stalfort

Anne Stalfort — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 19:13:24 +0000

I also pick up trash. It is so simple; I wonder how people walk past trash and don’t pick it up!

I have another very simple idea that anyone could do - no meetings, no fundraising. I buy (gently used would be okay) children’s books (yes I love Chinaberry and will purchase some of my favorites), place each book in a zip lock plastic bag with a label on the bag that states: Please read and gift this book to a child. I am also going to start putting a “This book belongs to” label inside the book. I place the bag at a covered bus stop, a bench at a playground, near a health clinic, etc. I try to pick neighborhoods where children might not have access to a lot of books. That’s it. Very simple. I would love for the readers of Chinaberry to order one extra book and start placing books in their neighborhoods. Eventually I will have a website and a email address. Anyone who is interested may email me at astalfort@yahoo.com. Or not - as I said this is simple; no record keeping needed.