The Washington Post - USA (2021-11-22)

C8 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST.MONDAY, NOVEMBER 22 , 2021

ACROSS

1 The Grateful __:

rock group

5 Odometer units

10 Ukr. and Lith.,

once

14 Wrinkly fruit

15 Arabian

Peninsula

resident

16 Scrape, in

tot-ese

17 *Arkansas resort

known for its

geothermal

waters

19 Great

Smokies st.

20 Trolley sound,

in an old song

21 To p of a wave

22 Ill will

25 On one’s way

28 SoCal NFL team

29 Put on television

30 Thor’s father

31 Dividing

membranes

33 Letter between

pi and sigma

36 Bath towel word

37 *FDR recovery

program

39 Musical ability

40 Sound of

contentment

41 Newspaper

opinion pieces

42 “__! The Herald

Angels Sing”

43 More than

gratified

45 Garlicky shrimp

dish

47 Film critic with a

cameo in 1978 ’s

“Superman”

49 Holmes’ friend

and flatmate

50 Adorable one

51 Muslim religious

leaders

53 Palo __, Calif.

54 Toy that can be

either Mr. or

Mrs. ... and what

the first part of

the answers to

starred clues

can literally be

59 Abound

60 Baking tray of

cookies

61 Paris airport

62 Makes a mistake

63 Cropped up

64 The “P” in IPA

DOWN

1 “How silly

of me!”

2 Freud’s “The __

and the Id”

3 Space bar

neighbor

4 Sony audio

product unveiled

in 1984

5 Marshy tract

6 “You can count

on me!”

7 Oscar winner

Jessica

8 The “E” in ESL:

Abbr.

9 Family

nickname

10 “I totally agree”

11 *Affectionate

bedtime words

12 Lather, __,

repeat

13 In the mail

18 Professor in Clue

21 Reef material

22 Honolulu hello

23 1976 Olympic

great Comaneci

24 *Silky-coated

bird dog

26 Places where

moms grab pup-

pies when they

pick them up

27 Actress

Hayworth

31 Stockholm

native

32 Advanced

teaching deg.

34 Silent Marx

brother

35 Pest control

biggie

37 __ Dame

38 Fencing tool

42 Milliner’s store

44 Algebraic

givens

45 Wrap snugly

46 Army garb,

for short

47 Head of state

48 “Same here”

50 Actress

Blanchett

52 Brits’ raincoats

54 Kegler’s org.

55 Dory propeller

56 MLB hurler’s

stat

57 Every one

58 Salon coloring

LA TIMES CROSSWORD By Robert E. Lee Morris

SATURDAY’S LA TIMES SOLUTION

© 2021 Tribune Content Agency, LLC. 11/22/21

kidspost

CHIP SAYS

In 1947, Walt Disney and his company’s

animators designed the Marine Corps

Reserve’s Toys for Tots train logo, which

is still used by the organization today.

KIDSPOST.COM

Check out amazing wildlife photos

from the “Unforgettable Behavior”

exhibit at the Smithsonian National

Museum of Natural History.

TODAY

Highs may reach the low- or

middle 50s, winds are gusty,

and there may be rain.

ILLUSTRATION BY ALICE VIECHNICKI, 11, SILVER SPRING

Get involved

What: The annual Marine Corps

Reserve Toys for Tots campaign.

When: Through December 12.

Where: Many local organizations

are toy collection sites. To find

those in your area or volunteer

opportunities, visit the website

toysfortots.org.

Special events: Several toy drop-

off donation drives (co-sponsored

by WJLA) are scheduled for the D.C.

area:

December 3, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., at

Ikea, 2901 Potomac Mills Circle,

Woodbridge.

December 4, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., U.S.

Marine Corps War Memorial/Iwo

Jima Memorial in Arlington.

December 10, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.,

Ikea, 10100 Baltimore Avenue,

College Park.

BIRTHDAYS OF THE WEEK

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 22

McLean’s Harper Richmond (2013).

North Bethesda’s Jamie Silberglied

(2009).

Astronaut Owen Garriott (1930).

Aviator Wiley Post (1898).

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER^23

Rockville’s Paolo Garcia (2011).

Singer Miley Cyrus (1992).

President Franklin Pierce (1804).

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 24

Bethesda’s Kiran Chivvis (2015).

Rockville’s Rivka Baronofsky (2013).

Silver Spring’s Kylie Royster (2012).

Silver Spring’s Aria Callaghan (2011).

Actor Peyton Meyer (1998).

Author Frances Hodgson Burnett

(1849).

President Zachary Taylor (1784).

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 25

Burke’s Parker Stotka (2014).

Cabin John’s Cassidy Wolf (2008).

Baseball player Joe DiMaggio (1914).

Carmaker Karl Benz (1844).

Industrialist Andrew Carnegie (1835).

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER^26

Cartoonist Charles Schulz (1922).

Engineer Willis Carrier (1876).

Surgeon Mary Edwards Walker (1832).

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 27

Silver Spring’s Luke Wahl (2014).

Guitarist Jimi Hendrix (1942).

Martial artist Bruce Lee (1940).

Astronomer Anders Celsius (1701).

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 28

Record executive Berry Gordy (1929).

Architect Henry Bacon (1866).

Educator Helen White (1853).

Richmond Silberglied

Garcia

Birthday announcements are for ages 6 to 13 and

are printed on a first-come, first-served basis.

They do not appear online. A parent or legal guardian

must give permission. We need photos at least

three weeks ahead of publication. We need

names (if photos are not desired) at least a week

before publication. Fill out the online form at wapo.st/

kidspostbirthdays. We are temporarily unable to

accept mailed submissions. Questions? Contact

[email protected].

Chivvis

B aronofsky Royster

Callaghan Stotka

Wolf Wahl

FAMILY PHOTO

S iblings Christopher, left, and

Taylor Bracey collected 6,000

toys for kids last year in their

hometown of Forney, Texas.

BY HABEN KELATI

A

s the holiday season

was approaching in

2017, siblings Taylor

and Christopher Brac-

ey weren’t just thinking

about presents for themselves.

They were looking for ways to give

back. A friend suggested Toys for

Tots, a program run by the Marine

Corps Reserve.

Founded in 1947, Toys for Tots

has been collecting toys and do-

nating them to several genera-

tions of less-fortunate children.

“Our dad was in the military

and our grandfather on our

mom’s side was doing Toys for

Tots for years... so we chose to do

that,” said Taylor, who is now 17.

Taylor and Christopher, 14, have

been involved ever since, holding

festive events to collect toys each

year.

The events are no small under-

takings. In 2020, they collected

6,000 toys to donate to their

community in Forney, Texas. Na-

tionally, Toys for Tots donated 20

million toys last year to 7.4 million

kids — their biggest year yet de-

spite the coronavirus pandemic.

Ted Silvester, a retired Marine

and vice president of marketing

and development for Toys for

Tots, wasn’t surprised by the re-

cord-breaking year.

During “74 years, this country

has been through crises over

those decades, and each year, the

American public never lets Toys

for Tots fail,” Silvester said.

There are 830 local Toys for

Tots campaigns across the Unit-

ed States. Marine bases hold do-

nation drives to support the pro-

gram, but there aren’t enough

Marines to cover all the commu-

nities in need, so volunteers help

out.

Most of the campaigns are run

by local community organizers

who volunteer to help collect,

sort and distribute toys. “Really

anybody that wants to bring Toys

for Tots to the area that doesn’t

currently have one in their com-

munity can reach out to us, and

we can get it set up,” Silvester

said.

Dawn Stem did just that. She is

a community organizer in Prince

George’s County. “All we care

about is that we do everything we

can for a child that’s in need,” she

says when explaining why she

participates each year.

For Stem, it’s not just helping

kids but seeing kids help one

another that makes the program

“a blessing.”

“The Cub Scouts and the

Brownies, they do events for us

and collect toys and bring it to us,”

she said, “which is great because

it’s kids giving back to kids, and I

love that.”

For years, Toys for Tots officials

heard inspiring stories about kids

volunteering for the program, Sil-

vester said. They decided to name

some of those kids youth ambas-

sadors. In 2020, Taylor and Chris-

topher were the first two appoint-

ed.

But the Braceys weren’t collect-

ing toys for the recognition. “I

didn’t even know it was going to

happen,” Christopher said. None-

theless, “it was an honor,” he said.

The big honor, though, is being

able to help kids who have less

than they have, Taylor said.

“They’re probably never going to

meet me or know who I am, but it

makes me feel good to know that I

was helping them.”

Teens collect thousands of toys for kids

LANCE CORPORAL DAISHA R. SOSA

U.S. Marines pose for a photo with Toys for Tots in D.C. Founded in

1947, the national Marine Corps Reserve program last year

donated 20 million toys to 7.4 million underprivileged children.

Two Texas siblings are

major contributors to

Marine Corps c harity

Adapted from an

online discussion.

Hello, Carolyn: I

have a 10-year-old

daughter who

loves Legos. She

has built a world

covering the

(small) amount of open space in

her room. There is an open-air

market, a variety of vehicles

(from Star Wars ships to RVs to

snowmobiles to self-created

things with wheels), and two

extensive emergency bed areas.

There are probably 30 to 40

people, and every time one of

them falls/gets knocked over/

loses an appendage, the

paramedics come and bring

them to the hospital, and she

does extensive building/healing/

whatever to get them back to the

game.

ANYway... I was deep-

cleaning the rugs. She refused to

move her Legos, and I told her if

she didn’t, someone else would.

She cried hysterically, I moved

them, some of them got broken.

I told her going forward we will

be vacuuming her room on a

weekly basis, and the Legos will

be moved every time.

Now she cries, gets angry at

me, acts nasty, etc. every time

it’s brought up, or even when I

am around and she is playing

with her Legos.

I will stick to my guns —

OMG she sounds like such a

spoiled brat based on this, but I

swear this is not how she

normally is! — but how do I get

through this? I have told her

that if she can come up with a

good alternate solution/

compromise, we can talk. She is

an only child, her other parent

and I are divorced, and she

keeps all her Legos here.

— Sticking to My Guns

Sticking to My Guns: =:-O

Nothing about her sounds

“spoiled brat”-ish. Nothing.

It’s her thing! It’s also creative

to the nth, and the world around

her has gone to hell, so for the

love of blockheads please leave

her creative refuge intact.

If the rug is inviting vermin,

then teach her to clean it herself,

carefully, with a wand

attachment.

I am trying to be encouraging

here, but I am incensed that

you’re going to war with her joy,

security and well-being over

carpet-cleaning.

She is a child. She's coping

with crisis and disruption. Stop

using your brute parental force

to undermine her emotional

outlet. I expect she will stop

acting out when you do.

You took the time to mention

the detail, care and health-

related playacting involved — so

you must understand how

significant this is.

So rewind to before you get to

the “ANYway” and the fixation

on winning a power struggle,

and instead — from now on —

just stop. Stop yourself,

recognize that a “win” here on

breaking her world to clean

underneath it is ultimately a loss

for you both. Win by working

with her to find a way to clean

around the multilayered

triumph that is her Lego world.

Re: Lego: This child has found a

way to cope with the uncertainty

and fear almost all of us are

overwhelmed by. Perhaps your

way of coping is to take control,

whether by cleaning or trying to

control people around you. It’s

time to lay off and find better

ways to manage your issues

before you do any more

emotional damage to your child.

— Anonymous

Anonymous: To that point —

maybe this parent is

overwhelmed, too, and needs

outside support, a therapist, a

group, and/or a break. Thank

you.

Write to Carolyn Hax at

[email protected]. Get her

column delivered to your inbox each

morning at wapo.st/gethax.

 Join the discussion live at noon

Fridays at washingtonpost.com/live-

chats.

She crafted a thoughtful Lego world.

Then Mom’s vacuum showed up.

Carolyn

Hax

NICK GALIFIANAKIS FOR THE WASHINGTON POST