EdItoR's NoTe

There's Something Fun for Everyone at

JCC, MACCABI
PRO-5POW5
CAMPS

our

THESE
CHECK
EXCITING CAMP5:

• KEN LEVY'S KICKBOXING
• RACKHAM GOLF
• LACROSSE
• MAYBURY HORSEBACK RIDING
• MOUNTAIN BIKING
• NFL FLAG FOOTBALL

ALL THI5,PI.U.5;

•PLANET ROCK - ROCK CUMBING
• KARATE
• JCC SOCCER
• DETROIT ARCHERY CLUB - ARCHERY
•CARL CHILDRESS/FRED GOLDBERG BASEBALL
3 NBA BASKETBALL
a IN-LINE HOCKEY AT SOCCER ZONE
OAKLAND GYMNASTICS

Se iofia ~ ates

Session I a June 22-July 16
Session II a July 20-August 13

Transportation is provided from designated areas and
Camps are for children and teens ages 6 through 14.

To sign-up your children) for camp,
or to request a detailed Pro-Sports Camp
brochure, please call (248) 661-1010.

JCC Summer Comps

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The Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit

D. Dan & Betty Kahn Building
6600 W. Maple Road • West Bloomfield, MI • 48322

Jimmy Prentis Morris Building
A. Alfred Taubman Jewish Community Campus
15110 W. Ten Mile Road • Oak Park, MI• 48237

2/20
1998

74

of long ago I was
indulging in one of my
favorite sports — channel
surfing. Oh, I usually have a book
in my hand, trying to look intellectu-
al, as I zoom from channel A to B.
But truth is I'm mesmerized by that
garbage. So many shopping chan-
nels. So many cooking shows. So
many soap operas.
I paused at one station and
caught a moment of an old "Little
House on the Prairie." It was a story
about the Ingalls family celebrating
Christmas. The children's gifts were
just a few: a penny, a piece of
candy, a cup. Yet they were so
happy, so grateful. I confess I was
moved, and think often to this day
about that episode.
I'm not about to launch into a
lengthy lecture about how gee, folks
back then might not have had much
but they sure didn't know it because
they were so gosh-darn happy! Let
me tell you — a lot back then was-
n't so great. I'm thankful each day
that I don't live in a rustic cabin
without electricity. I like the washing
machine and dryer, the telephone
and, my favorite major appliance,
the dishwasher. I'm grateful that,
thanks to a technological wonder
called the airplane, I can travel
around the world. And I'm especial-
ly appreciative of modern medicine
— treatments, cures, vaccinations
and know-how that our ancestors
didn't have, and as a result often
died — or watched their children
die.
I have mixed feelings about all the
stuff the Ingalls children didn't have
that mine do. Our basement is a
veritable playroom, with so many
blocks and bricks and coloring
books and slides we can hardly
move. It's not really the stuff I object
to, though. It's when children fail to
appreciate what they have, and
when parents use these items as a
replacement for their time.
Several years ago I was interview-
ing a woman named Nancy, and
she was talking about her teenage

son and how much she enjoys
being with him. I was touched.
"I hear so many parents who can't
wait to get away from their chil-
dren," I said.
"I know," she responded. "I do,
too. But I love my son and my hus-
band and I really like to be with
him."
I like to be with my children, too.
Everything is fun, an adventure, with
them. They see things I do not, or
see them in a different way.
While I am complaining about the
dried basil I just spilled all over the
floor, they are making beautiful pat-
terns in the mess. While I am whin-
ing about the summer heat, they are
making a jungle path through the
high flowers, holding ladybugs on
the tips of their fingers, digging up
new carrots in the garden. They
make me feel alive and free.
Children have a long list of wants
— some of which are legitimate,
some of which are not. Take them
into any store and they'll find 100
things they cannot live without, from
glitter nail polish to a candy bar. But
what they want most of all, what
they need most of all, is us. Children
want to be with us to play games,
to tell them that they can draw and
sing well, to hear their dreams and
fears, and hold them when they fall.
That new video game may have
been first on a long list of wants, but
in two weeks the child will have for-
gotten completely that he didn't get
it. He won't forget that you didn't
have time for him.
My days with my children flow
like water down a stream. They are
clear, bright, fresh and, invariably,
too quick. I want to be there for
them at each moment, even as the
wind whispers over the water,
"Hurry, hurry. They are growing
up." ri

Elizabeth Applebaum
AppleTree Editor

