Good Book, Volunteering, and Max

--This baby hound mix stayed very close to Max. :)



--Such a pretty dog with blue eyes, and follows commands, too! (breed is Catahoula)



--Max jogs with the dogs around this track.



--This is Kia. She is beautiful, but not interactive with us.


One of the best parenting books I have ever read is "Lighting Their Fires: Raising Extraordinary Children", by Rafe Esquith. It was published in 2009 and was on the New York Times Bestseller List.

Mr. Esquith is an outstanding educator in California. He took the lessons he learned in the classroom and wrote about them eloquently in this book.

One of his points is that children should do volunteer work. It takes them out of their naturally egocentric world view, and teaches them to think of the needs of others. It shows them one does not have to be PAID to feel good about a job well done.

Max has lots of free time since he is not playing football due to migraines. He has a passion for animals, especially dogs, so it seemed natural that the Humane Society would be a good fit for him. They accept teenagers as volunteers as long as a parent is with the teen.

This has been a glorious experience. He and I have a lot to talk about while volunteering there, on the ride home, and all through the week until the next Saturday when we can go again. Just last week he said, "Mom, remember Tut?". And we both chuckled, thinking of the tiny orange dog with the big personality.

There are cats there, too, and we talk about which ones would be fun to take home, how they would get along with each of our cats, etc. We talk about which animals Solomon would like, or Elliot or Annabelle.

We are making memories, meeting the needs of the animals, and hopefully, teaching ourselves that a paycheck is not required for us to do good deeds. Max has a beautiful heart, and I am so proud he is my son.

Thank you, Mr. Esquith, for an inspirational book!