Polar Bears or People

My only niece and nephew turned the age of twelve earlier this month. Bob and I gave them cold hard cash - literally! We froze $50 in a baggie in water in sour cream containers. In order to find out what and where their gift was, they had to solve a riddle. Such is how we give gifts in our family if the receiver has everything he or she already needs...

My nephew Robert pocketed the money right away, and my niece Rosann announced, "I'm giving my money to the polar bears!"

Silence.

After a time, I was able to ask Rosann, "Where will your money go? What will the organization do with your money for the polar bears?" She mentioned something about them relocating bears that had gotten too far away.

I tried to be a good actress and be happy for her - proud of her. I don't know if I was convincing.

The thing is, she's a giving person. She also sees that for my birthday we put together what some call "blessings bags" - see the post on how to make your own here. I donated money to St. Jude's in her name for her first communion. She volunteers with the Girl Scouts at Feed My Starving Children. What was my problem?! Why did her saying she'd give her money to the polar bears put me off? Why did I think - Maybe her parents will talk her out of giving ALL of her money to the polar bears. (It had totaled $140 by then.) Don't PEOPLE count more?

I saw my problem this morning (while washing dishes).

I was being a hypocrite.

EVERY time I speak or write about Genius Hour, 20% Time, Passion Projects, Personalized Learning... I have in the forefront of my mind that it is about the KIDS. It's about what THEY deem important. Who am I to judge? What if the biggest group of people helping polar bears financially are children? I revisited my post on the value of frozen marbles today. I'll promise to keep my hypocrisy at bay, and yet keep asking questions that keep the conversations going.

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