Santa Claus and bail outs

I know this is going to sound really silly, but last night I was up late as I usually am, and the Christmas tree was on, and I wondered to myself what life would be like if Santa Claus existed for adults. What if he was as real for us as he is for our children? If that was the case, what would I ask him for? I found myself knowing exactly what I would ask for the money to allow me to stay at home with my children so that I not only could spend time with them but have the time to be a better wife. To also be able to work on an idea that I have for a non-profit and get that off the ground. Amazing how what I would want now doesn't involve new gadgets, new clothes, toys, etc.

This thought just kept taking me down the path of wondering how many people really need a real life Santa to help them out right now. I can't pull up CNN.com or look at the newspaper without seeing how bad the economy is. Thousands of jobs are being cut almost daily and that means families are struggling to keep roofs over their heads, food on the table, and keep themselves out of bankruptcy. Many of those families are middle class families just like mine who just went through buying a home during the time when prices were sky rocketing, have debt, and now wonder what the future holds. I look at this company and that company getting millions of dollars in bail outs and wonder to myself "what about us?" What about all of us that are down in the trenches suffering and those that are a lot worse off then me? Where is our bailout? As the CEO and CFO of my family, I may have made some bad financial decisions. Does that mean I can trot off to Washington and ask Congress for some money to bail me out? Nope!

I really hope that as we enter in to a new year and a new Presidency that something changes to fix this mess. I know it will take time but I"m not sure a lot of people have the time to wait. I know my patience level is low because I'm having to give up something that I will never ever get back - time with my children to go back in to the workplace to keep us from going under.