I Donate Blood - Will You? CONTEST!

BY POPULAR DEMAND!
CONTEST EXTENDED
THROUGH VALENTINE'S DAY!

AND PRIZE MONEY HAS BEEN DOUBLED!

MATCHED BY GENEROUS BLOGGER!

I used to give blood all of the time when the kids were little and even had an article published years ago about how much I enjoyed it and how I likened it to going on a mini-vacation, because back then, hiding in the bathroom without being disturbed for five minutes was a luxury! So you can imagine what I wrote about getting out of the house for a full two hours and being in a place where I got to lie down, have adult conversation, have nice ladies pamper me, offer me drinks and snacks, and ask me if I was feeling OK. That, to me, was pure heaven back in those early days of motherhood.

Anyway, I stopped giving blood when the last time I went and the tattoo question came up and I realized I couldn’t donate for fear I was infected by tainted ink! Me, infected by tainted needles! Harumphf! It’s been three-and-a-half years since I got my tattoo. Many a lives could have been saved during that time, and really, had I known a tattoo would have halted my blood-donating streak, I might have thought twice about branding myself, all for the sake of thinking I was cool and hip. Ha, who knew?

Today, I had my own brood of kids, and three neighbor kids with me and we had lunch and then we ran a couple errands and for some reason, out of the New Year freaking Blue, I said, “Hey, do you guys want to watch me give blood?”

Shouts from the back seat:

“Ewwww! NO!”

“COOL!”

“HECK Yeah!”

“Gross!”

“Like a vampire?”

Some of the kids, like Diva, were into it; some, (AJers) not so much. I coaxed the Nays into the Yay side, by explaining that in giving blood, I would be saving a life, possibly even a couple of lives.

“See guys, someone might get into an accident, tonight even, and they might be in the hospital, and let’s say there’s this 911 call, like ‘911! THERE’S BEEN AN ACCIDENT AND WE NEED SOME BLOOD STAT!’ and then they’d grab my bag of blood and pump it into the person’s body and Pow! I’d save a life! Come on, how cool would THAT be?”

Soon the No team sided with the Yays because of my explanation (and the promise of After-Blood-Donating Ice Cream Cones).

I shuttled all six kids into the Blood Center and had it been in the ‘70s, the staff probably would have thought I was a down-on-her-luck single mom looking to get paid for any bodily fluids I could sell. Nope - I was just feeling giving at that particular moment.

When we walked through the doors, I was thrilled to see there was a kiddy section and ordered the kids to sit down.

“Do you take blood donations here?”

“Yep,” she said.

“All right kids. Roll up your sleeves! Lady, get out your needles!”

Six sets of eyes bulged out. Ha, these are the joyous moments of parenting I live for!

The lady then asked for my driver’s license. I threw her my credit card.

She looked at me funny. “We don’t take credit cards. I need your license.”

“Whoops! I’ve been whipping that card out so much the past few months, it just seemed natural to give that to you!”

She took my info, I answered the questions, and then I went into the little top-secret room with her so I could have the physical part done. It’s good they take you into that private room cuz that’s where they ask you how much ya weigh. Diva and her friend blew kisses at me and said, “Good luck! We’ll miss you! Hope it doesn’t hurt too much!”

“I’m not getting the needle now!”

I am telling you, if you ever want to be treated kindly, go give blood.

You will feel like a ROCK STAR! A SUPER STAR! Angelina Jolie! Britney Spears on her come-back night… wait… scratch that. Nobody wants to feel like Britney!

However, the Blood People say the NICEST things to you when you go in to freely donate your blood; the blood that your body makes for you for FREE every day of your life. The blood that you don’t ever have to ask for. The blood that is JUST there for you. Every day. For you. Just because you are healthy, and it is there. For the making.

You give blood, and it remakes itself right back up in your body. It doesn’t hurt! The puny little needle DOES NOT HURT! You don’t even have to look at it! You get snacks afterward! You get to lie on a semi-comfy, cushy, couchy-bed thing. They had movies there, and music, and soda, and cookies, and chips (which, of course, I chose to eat the low-fat cookies because of Weight Watchers, and which, I will also note, not ONE, but TWO of my ‘so-called’ friends commented that I was going to pretty desperate measures to lose weight before my weigh-in tomorrow morning by trying to get rid of a pint of blood!).

The nurse lady who was in charge of taking care of me was THE nicest lady I have ever met. I seriously wanted to take her home and ask her to be my own personal caregiver, but also have her as my friend. Everything she said was just perfect. You would think I was in a “Blood Bank Bar” and she was using all her “Blood Bank Pick-Up Lines” on me, like she sooo wanted to land me in the Proverbial Blood Bank Bed for a One-Night Stand. And let me tell you, the things she was saying to me, she had me wrapped! I fell in love with her and her charm!

You have gorgeous iron numbers for a woman. Most women have 12.3, and you’re at 13.5. That’s really great.

You’ve got a beautiful pulse rate!

You’ve got the blood pressure of an athlete. Seriously, most athletes don’t have blood pressure this good.

Look at these numbers: your iron, your pulse, your blood pressure – just wonderful!

I wish everyone had a vein like this one. You’ve got a perfect vein. I have a feeling you’re going to flow very well.

Your bag is filling so nicely. This won’t take long at all.

I was seriously blushing at these compliments. Like, what do I say to that? “Well, I did do yoga this morning.” Or, “I’ve been working on my veins a bit lately. Gotta keep them in shape, cuz they’re always working for ya!” But really how do you NOT love someone who is THAT nice to you? And how can you NOT promise to come back in eight weeks to be treated like that again?

So, I gave blood, the kids got a little lesson in it, they know I saved somebody’s life, and hey, the nice lady gave EVERY KID snacks afterward! They had a field day with it! I’m telling you, it was like going on an educational but fun field trip complete with snacks and giveaways because they all got calendars and “Future Blood Donor” stickers too. And this experience is going to teach them not to be scared about donating in the future, and they’ll see that I’ve done it, and it’s no big deal, and when they are old enough (16) to donate blood, it’ll seem like a natural thing to do, and I won’t let them get their driver’s licenses until they promise me they will donate blood every eight weeks so they’ll just have to do it! So there!

Going today to give blood was kind of surreal, like the Blood Center just had beckoned to me at that moment. I drive past that center countless times during the week, and 99 percent of those countless times, I am usually without six kids, so what drew me to the center today? I wonder if I was really pulled there today for some specific reason? I’d like to think so. You can bet I’m going back in eight weeks, and you know what? You should consider giving blood too.

In fact, what do you think of the first 2008 Manic Mommy contest where everyone who gives blood during the month of January and can prove it with a photo* will be entered to win a cash prize?

Here’s the kicker: the cash prize is as large as the number of participants. For every one person who gives blood, I will put in $1 of my very own money. Then, on January 31, 2008, I’ll do a random drawing and however many of you readers participate is however much money the prize will be.

And, it just so happens to be National Blood Donor Month, so what a perfect opportunity to save someone’s life? Start the New Year off right! By doing something to help others!

Spread the word, give some blood, take a break, and grab a snack after you donate, and you could also win a cash prize** from Manic Mommy! Details below, and they are subject to change during the course of the month because I haven’t really thought this out completely, but I think it’s a great cause, and I hope this motivates some of you to do this, because it’s a no-brainer, prize or no prize.

Blogging friends, the only way this will work is if you’ll be kind enough to share the link to this post with your readers in order to up the anty to make this offer a worthwhile prize for those who are willing to invest their time, energy and BLOOD (but no sweat and tears, I promise!) into this awesome, awesome Manic Cause!

And if you do post about this on your blog, as I know some of you have already kindly done so, could you please email me at manicmommy@comcast.net and share the link with me. I'd like to keep track of those who are helping spread the word and maybe somehow find a way to repay you as well!

DISCLAIMERS and YADA-YADAs:

*Photos submitted may be published on Manic Mommy, and a photo is required to qualify for the contest (of you either holding your blood donor card at the blood center – or of it showing the date you donated, or of you in the chair actually donating).

Photo should be emailed to manicmommy@comcast.net.

Include your full name, city, state, and email address.

**Cash prize can not exceed a three-digit amount (predetermined by Manic Mommy if there is an overwhelming response to the contest) and the first number of that three digit number cannot exceed a 2, because, please keep in mind that Manic Mommy is NOT “Manic-Made-Outta-Money” and this is coming straight out of her own “We Just Blew Through Christmas” pocket.***

***Unless, of course, there are some anonymous rich charitable donors out there who will not only donate blood, but also want to shell out a few bucks to support this awesome cause to save lives? One blood drop at a time? Maybe someone out there wants to match my offer? And in return, of course, Manic Mommy will pimp your company.****

****Of course, Manic Mommy has to be a proponent of your company, has to like your product, use your product, or at least know of your product in order to pimp your product, and it has to be a product relatable to mommies or manics, obviously.

Questions? Leave ‘em for me in the comments.

Ready to donate? Go here:

To learn more blood donation opportunities, visit www.givelife.org or
call 1-800-GIVE-LIFE (1-800-448-3543).