It’s hard these days not to obsess about the economy; we’re thinking more carefully about every dime, and we have friends who are really struggling, suddenly, just to get through the month. We’ve always tried to make the boys understand how very fortunate they are, and to see all of the things that they take for granted; in the past, this has mostly been stuff like a playroom full of toys and private school, but lately, we’ve been talking about things like food and shelter — the basics.

My kids have a hard time imagining what it would be like to be hungry — there is always food in our house, and the worst case scenario for them is having to eat what I am serving instead of a meal they have cobbled together out of kid food (cheese sticks and chicken nuggets and fish crackers). The idea that a family might not know where their next meal is coming from is completely  baffling to them. (more…)