OK, all of you out there who are soooooo sick of the Ice Bucket Challenge videos.
You know who you are.
And I get it. I do.
Everyone's doing it. All your "friends," on FB and IRL are doing it, celebs are doing it (to each other -- EW!), your neighbors, your parents, everyone -- and you are holding out.
Because it's been done and done again. Over and over and YOU ARE OVER IT.
Because it doesn't "cure" ALS. And it takes away from what "real" charity is or should be. And Lady Gaga doing it weirdly and Ben Affleck showing us his pool is all too gross for words, and none of this sh*t has anything to do with this horrible, debilitating disease.
GOT IT.
Here's who LIKES the Ice Bucket Challenge.
People with kids.
You know us. We are the ones who use Facebook the most because our kids make us laugh. We are the ones who never hang out anymore because we are in bed at 9:45 every night. The ones who don't text you back right away because we have most likely just dropped our phone in the toilet while wiping a kid's ass in the bathroom at The Grove.
Yeah. We LOVED the ice bucket challenge.
And here's why.
Our kids thought it was the GREATEST THING EVER. Because they saw us do it. And then they got to do it. And then they made their friends do it. And then they got to watch everyone else do it. And then people watched them do it. And it was just plain f*cking adorable.
But most importantly, I'm pretty sure most of these parents wound up explaining a couple of things to their kids.
Stuff that doesn't always come up organically, but stuff parents SHOULD talk about with their kids and can't always find the right way to do so.
Stuff like...
What is charity?
Well, it's when you give to someone less fortunate than you. To someone in need.
What is ALS?
It's a sickness. Like the flu. But much, much worse. And they want to raise money to help find a cure.
What does the Ice Bucket Challenge have to do with anything?
Well, this man Pete Frates who has ALS, started it to try and get people to help raise money. To pay attention to his sickness.
Is he going to be OK?
I don't know. Probably not. But he's a very good man who really did something wonderful.
If just one of those questions was asked or answered by a kid, then the ice bucket challenge was worth it. Not solely because of the money it helped raise and the attention it helped get for ALS, but because it opened up younger hearts to the spirit of collective responsibility. People helping people. People doing something silly, yes, but all in the interest of a good cause. I'm sure most of these conversations were less than three minutes long, but I feel like the activity around said conversations will help the sentiments stick in their little minds. I really do. We parents out there are super grateful to Pete Frates for starting this crazy thing. And for giving us a beautiful way to connect with our kids about something very important for even just a moment.
And let's be honest, the Ice Bucket Challenge also helped us kill at LEAST an hour of time with the kids during the dregs of summer.
Time where they were thoroughly entertained while plotting, dousing, recording, sending, showing and then watching themselves, friends, families, politicians and rock stars get cold and wet.
And we really, REALLY appreciated it.