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As An Eco-Conscious Parent, Here’s How I’m Doing Christmas For My Kids
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation ^ | 12/4/19 | Janice Quirt

Posted on 12/11/2019 8:23:26 PM PST by mkleesma

I consider myself a minimalist. Too much stuff gives me all kinds of stress, from ecological to financial. I’m a big believer in experiential gifts and spending time (together), not wads of money.

But I’m buying my kids presents this year.

They're tangible, need to be unwrapped and aren't just experiences or vouchers. And I’m feeling good about it. It’s not out of guilt or peer pressure, or any of those other powerful emotions. There is a method to my consumerism.

First of all, when I say I’m buying my kids presents, I don’t mean a pile of plastic, electronics or toys. I am not anti-toy — in the past I have purchased Lego sets. Pored over the Maplelea Doll catalogue. Become well-versed in BeyBlades and My Little Pony. But this year, my kids seem to have enough of those items. They didn’t even appear on wish lists. And so I’ve changed my approach.

So for Christmas I decided to gift my kids items that they need and that appeal to their sense of adventure: excellent day packs, perfect for carrying essentials whether exploring a national park or a city.

I also researched to find ones made by truly ethical companies that employ fair trade practices and that help the workers, not risk their safety. I even found neat packs that are made from the remnants of other products. The rainbow pattern for each is individual and based on the preferences of the worker, not a blueprint. My kids and I will talk about the unique and creative process behind these bags, and how it is important to support ethical and sustainable manufacturers with our all-important buying power.

(Excerpt) Read more at cbc.ca ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: bloggers; crazy; fakescience; liberal; parent
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To: Calamari

When I was five, I WAS Roy Rogers.


41 posted on 12/11/2019 9:23:00 PM PST by Hebrews 11:6 (Do you REALLY believe that (1) God IS, and (2) God IS GOOD?)
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To: mkleesma

What a rambling spew of “I” statements and feelgoodism. She could have saved all of the trouble and just aborted the kids to save the environment and all of this trouble in these days of ecopocalypse.


42 posted on 12/11/2019 9:26:27 PM PST by shanover (...To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them.-S.Adams)
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To: mkleesma

The comments there are pretty good.


43 posted on 12/11/2019 9:27:46 PM PST by right way right (May we remain sober over mere men, for God really is our only true hope.)
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To: mkleesma

These joyless, judgmental Canadian socialists are evolved from, the strict, penny-pinching Scottish Presbyterians and Calvinists who first formed Canada.


44 posted on 12/11/2019 9:43:15 PM PST by PGR88
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To: mkleesma

I I I I I I I I I I I I’m
(doing Christmas for my kids ‘cause it’s all about)
MEEEEEEEEEEE!!!


45 posted on 12/11/2019 9:44:25 PM PST by GnuThere
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To: BenLurkin

19 I, my and me in just the excerpt.


46 posted on 12/11/2019 9:48:24 PM PST by polymuser (It's discouraging to think how many people are shocked by honesty and so few by deceit. Noel Coward)
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To: mkleesma

Hopefully, the kids have been so indoctrinated that they’ll be happy with their dorky gifts, for their sakes. Normally I don’t like to see wackos indoctrinate their kids, but I just HATE seeing kids being disappointed Christmas morning.


47 posted on 12/11/2019 9:49:13 PM PST by Flaming Conservative ((Pray without ceasing))
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To: mkleesma

Good grief. So they get these presents followed by an hour long eco-speech much like the article. They have taken all the mindless fun out of kidhood. Just dump a cloud of envirodespair over the whole holiday. Poor kids probably have to hear this crap all day long.


48 posted on 12/11/2019 9:52:11 PM PST by bluejean (I'm becoming a cranky old person. It really annoys me.)
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To: Hebrews 11:6

Our uncle bought us neat stuff, before he got married. My sister and I got Dale Evans vests and and cowgirl hats, and we’d wear them while we watched Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, while we sang “Happy Trails To You”, with them, at the end of the program.


49 posted on 12/11/2019 9:56:29 PM PST by Flaming Conservative ((Pray without ceasing))
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To: Calamari

I got the chemistry set, later 60’s, had the good stuff — Mercury, sulfur, yeah!

Got taken away that summer, and I got a spanking, too. I was a creative kid.


50 posted on 12/11/2019 9:56:53 PM PST by polymuser (It's discouraging to think how many people are shocked by honesty and so few by deceit. Noel Coward)
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To: mkleesma

She should just bypass all that crap and get her kids prescriptions for Xanax and adderall...oh and a couple carbon free pencils


51 posted on 12/11/2019 10:13:42 PM PST by Karliner (Jeremiah 29:11, Romans 8:28 Isa 17 "This is the end of the beginning" W Churchill)
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To: polymuser
I got the chemistry set, later 60’s, had the good stuff — Mercury, sulfur, yeah!

ha ha you too eh? I had a blast until I burned down half my sisters playhouse on a cool experiment...my chem set was trashed the next day as were my hope figuring rocket fuel for NASA.

52 posted on 12/11/2019 10:15:55 PM PST by Karliner (Jeremiah 29:11, Romans 8:28 Isa 17 "This is the end of the beginning" W Churchill)
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To: mkleesma

As a freedom-conscious parent, here’s how I’m doing Christmas for my kids:

My gifts tend toward good, clean outdoor fun and often include good quality knives and firearms. Almost none of the gifts I have ever given include or need batteries. Few include plastic other than Glock, Magpul, and in the past Legos. In 2-4 years, each of my kids will be getting a gift from Randall Knives. As a bonus, they all get (and use) lots of ammo. Self-defense is not the only thing that matters in life, but ensuring that my kids have that ability is the second priority in my parenting, just behind reverence for and obedience to God.


53 posted on 12/11/2019 10:36:51 PM PST by Pollster1 ("Governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed")
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To: GreyHoundSailor
When we go out and find our tree we always hold hands and sing
54 posted on 12/11/2019 11:25:50 PM PST by gnarledmaw (Hive minded liberals worship leaders, sovereign conservatives elect servants.)
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To: GreyHoundSailor
That was supposed to say:

When we go out and find our tree we always hold hands and sing Welcome Christmas right before I cut it down and we bring it home.

55 posted on 12/11/2019 11:31:50 PM PST by gnarledmaw (Hive minded liberals worship leaders, sovereign conservatives elect servants.)
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To: mkleesma

No virtue signaling here...


56 posted on 12/12/2019 12:04:55 AM PST by gogeo (The left prides themselves on being tolerant, but they can't even be civil.)
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To: mkleesma

I remember the year I bought myself a Mach 1 for Christmas. I was in my first year of engineering grad school and was from a small coal mining town.

IT WAS A REALLY GREAT FANTASTIC CHRISTMAS!!!


57 posted on 12/12/2019 12:35:14 AM PST by Herakles (Diversity is applied Marxism!)
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To: mkleesma

My granddaughter will get plenty of presents but her parents, while not as much a skinflint as this woman, do forgo “things” to spend more time with her and do adventures. She is not yet 3 and can almost surf. They hike and pushbike ride with her, make sure she has interaction with relatives and friends. She will learn to ride a horse starting late next year and will play sports later on as well as learn a musical instrument or two. I cant think of anything better to give a kid than experiences and talents that will last them a lifetime!


58 posted on 12/12/2019 2:17:05 AM PST by melsec (There's a track, winding back, to an old forgotten shack along the road to Gundagai..)
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To: mkleesma

Hear we have a typical progressive know everything know nothing mother that watches THE VIEW or spends 5 minutes watching CNN forms her opinion on the world according to watch she is fed and tortures her family with non sense and non fact based information


59 posted on 12/12/2019 2:34:56 AM PST by ronnie raygun (nic dip.com)
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To: mkleesma
If you ever wondered what it would be like to grow up in a house with a liberal loon for a mother, here you go.

And what a pious prig she is!

.

60 posted on 12/12/2019 2:46:04 AM PST by Vlad The Inhaler (I love Mankind - It's Just Most Of The People That I Can't Stand)
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