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Show I it I Makes 9 Cents f ; , BY VI JUDGE f J ! Dear Readers: Many parents are dreading Christmas this year because of unemployment and financial distress. To such families, I would say: take courage, face up to your situation, do the best you can, remembering that adversity can actually strengthen family ties and bring out the best in each member. If you are frank with them, your older children will understand the problem and not resent a sparse Christmas. You may be surprised, in fact, at how sympathetic they will be and how enthusiastically they will pitch in to help make a good Christmas for the little ones who still believe in Santa. You can spend pleasant hours together converting items around the home into toys that will please as much as purchased ones. An old notebook can become an exciting picture book when its used pages are covered with glossy pictures cut from old magazines. Coloring books emerge when you trace pictures from old ones onto blank pages bound together or enclosed in a used looseleaf folder with a picture glued to the cover. A mess of old crayons become jumbo multicolored round crayons when you melt them and pour them into lids to harden. Old stockings can be converted into whimisical dolls and puppets, and a few scraps of material can turn a round oatmeal box into an adorable cradle or a doll quilt. A bag full of blocks collected from a construction site will delight a little boy who likes to build. Stacking and nesting toys can be assembled from spray bottle tops, margarine containers, or boxes of various sizes. With a little creative effort, cardboard card-board boxes become doll houses, and spools, boxes, and bottle tops become furniture. Milk cartons or shoe boxes can become trains. A matching toy can be made by tracing the outline of numerous objects such as bolts, lids and cutout cut-out traingles, squares, and circles. A bag to hold the matching objects can be made from an old sock or scraps of fabric. Pieces of sponge or cotton can be enclsoed in fabric to make a ball. A heavy piece of cardboard can become a checker game with squares colored in and tops from gallon milk jugs for men. The list must stop now because of lack of space, but if you need more ideas, search your imagination or go to the library for books on the subject. You can restore old toys. I remember how thrilled our little girl was with the new clothes Mrs. Santa made for her old doll one year, and how her little brother bragged to everyone that Santa painted his old tricycle and ut a new wheel on it. You can give all of your children and each other gifts of your time time you couldn't spend if you were working. A day alone with Mom or Dad can mean more to a child than a vast array of glamorous gifts. Now is the time to read Christmas stories together, to listen to tapes and records from the library, or to go to some of the free Christmas programs every community has during the season. Sing together, play games together, revive old-fashioned old-fashioned family fun and togetherness. You can get out your family pictures and souvenirs; bring your albums up-to-date; work on your family history together. Remember, parents, your attitude will make all the difference. If you are happy, your children will be happy. God bless you, one and all, as you strive to demonstrate your gratitude for health, family, life itself, and all your blessings, for you do have many. We all do if we but take time to count them. With love, Vi |