Positively Mom Street

“Life is grace. Sleep is forgiveness. The night absolves. Darkness wipes the slate clean, not spotless to be sure, but clean enough for another day’s chalking.”  ― Frederick Buechner,  The Alphabet of Grace Goodbye 2014 – Hello 2015. I wanted to write a really eloquent post about 2014 and how doing the Kind Year changed me.  I was ready to wax poetic about how great it’s been, the joy I found in helping others and how the past 6 months have brought so much good to my life. But the words didn’t come.  I don’t think I can end the year (or start a new one) talking about the good without discussing the bad. Yes – being part of this experience has been amazing.  It truly has.  It’s made me think outside the box, put others first, and try to BE the change I’d like to see in the world. It’s also been hard, challenging and somewhat depressing.  What I do is never enough.  The changes I make feel small and ineffective.  When I look back at the past six months (I start

My job as Santa to my adopt-a-family is almost over.  The gifts are wrapped and set to be delivered today. Can I tell you that this has been – by far – one of the most amazing experiences of my life? To start an experiment in kindness as a lark and see it become a full fledged reality blows my mind. One person CAN make a difference!  And while my Kind Year is only half way through – I already know that kindness and caring really can bring people together. Continue to give of yourself and be the magic of Christmas.  Positively, Kim

“The influence of a mother upon the lives of her children cannot be measured. They know and absorb her example and attitudes when it comes to questions of honesty, temperance, kindness, and industry.” - Billy Graham It’s the season!  The season of  over indulgence.  Excessive food, excessive drink, excessive fun.  I am guilty.  I partied like a rock star this weekend and I am feeling the effects.  I’m tired, and cranky, a just a bit toxic.  Ugh  - there is truth in the old saying about too much of a good thing.  I also believe the concept applies to Christmas and gifts.  I am personally focused on doing  a “less is more” holiday this year. Since I’m a year round shopper I have a gift closet where I stash my “goodies”.  I took everything out last night and tallied it up.  I thought there would be a lot – but surprisingly, there really wasn’t.  While I love a “steal” and can’t resist a bargain, I actually cannot stand a lot of “stuff.”  It makes me crazy. One – because it’s

“If you can live with less of what you have. You can be more of who you are.” – Celso Cukierkorn As many of you know, this year I’m running an Adopt A Family program – sponsored through my side business – and dedicated to my Kind Year journey. So far so good – we got people excited, raised the $200 goal – and I got to go out and shop! I am bound and determined to stretch this budget to it’s limit – I REALLY want to do a lot with the money. I started shopping – ticking items off the kids wish list (a little boy and girl) – and watching the stash grow. Then I hit a wall. I know these kids don’t have a lot – but do they really NEED a bunch of “stuff” to make it Christmas?  I spent roughly $80 of our goal money and received some very kind donations – and the kiddos gift pile was growing quite large. Lots of love and caring went into the collection of these gifts! Very proud of my peeps and all their generous donations! I’m taking a step back. Yes – I want these k

“The real gift of gratitude is that the more grateful you are, the more present you become.” — Robert Holden Friends, this has become my truth.  I am many things but as this year progresses I find I am more and more grateful.  I appreciate small things (like the older couple that offered my family of four their dinner table when were out the other night) despite the gentleman having his arm in a cast. I give more readily – of myself and of my time.  I want to BE THERE living every moment to its fullest. My little worries have fallen to the wayside – and I see potential where I once saw failure. As we come to Thanksgiving I want to ask you all to take a moment and think about what makes you TRULY grateful.  Is it something simple like having a loving family?  Food on the table?  A roof over your head and enough money to keep it there? For me – I’m grateful for opportunities.  Opportunities to be a better person.  Opportunities to give someone else a better life

“Christmas, my child, is love in action. Every time we love, every time we give, it’s Christmas.” - Dale Evans Ok, yes – I know – it’s not Christmas yet.  Usually I am the first one complaining about “Christmas Overload” where the decorations start filling store shelves and holiday music is playing in October.  But this year I feel different.  I feel excited about Christmas.   I’m ready.  So so ready. I think it’s because of my Kind Year commitment.  I really do.   Instead of seeing Christmas as a hassle (too many gifts, too much money, too little time) I’m beginning to see it as a magical moment where my efforts can truly make a mark. I’m inspired. Inspired by my kiddos – who seem to be picking up this Kind Year vibe and running with it.  Case in point – my oldest –  decided to start a little snow shoveling/yard raking business this year. He’s 10 going on 11 and ready to help out, make some money and do his part.  He created some flyers and we built an ad for him on o

“Forgiving is not forgetting. It’s letting go of the hurt.” - Unknown It was instantaneous and vitriol and in my head before I even had a moment to register. “Ughh…I hate her!” “Her” was a girl I went to high school with over 20 years ago.  I have not seen nor spoken with this girl since then…yet seeing her profile picture flash across a friends Facebook page brought it all back.  Even though I know I shouldn’t hate her – I really don’t even KNOW her – it was the first thing that popped into my head. The funny thing is – we were on again/off again best friends through much of junior high and high school. However, it was a friendship based on mutual disrespect.  She had a “reputation” that made her quite popular with the boys. I had a self esteem problem that I fed relentlessly.  We were a perfect storm of self loathing. Sometimes, the stars would align and we’d be brief but glorious allies.  Most of the time, however, we were using the other as stepping stones to

“My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.” - Dalia Lama Well – October has come and gone.  I hope everyone had a great month and enjoyed the cuteness and candy of Halloween.  It’s a good time for a little touch base and check in. So – how you doin? Are you participating in the 10 cans of conscious kindness challenge?  If so – you only have about 6 weeks to finish up shopping for your 10 food items to donate to a charity (by which I mean ANYONE you see fit) and help ease hunger. I have been moving forward with my quest.  It started with a box a Bisquick and after about 4 weeks I have the following items ready to go for my family in need. Well, not a lot of fancy going on there but I think it’s a great little start.  A family could easily have at least one, if not two, complete, nutritious meals with those items.  In the next few weeks I’ll continue to add items that are versatile and healthy plus I definitely want to bring in a touch of sweet.  After all

“Small deeds done are better than great deeds planned.” - Peter Marshall Yesterday I was coming home from a quick run to Whole Foods. The weather was perfect and I thought it would be a great day to have an “Indian Summer” dinner with burgers and dogs. I’m pretty fussy with my meat and I normally won’t buy it at the “regular” grocery store because I want it to be “clean” and if possible, grass fed, local, etc. I know it is a luxury not everyone can afford but since we rarely eat meat (husband is a veggie) it’s a worthy splurge in my world. So – I bought some local beef and some organic hot dogs. On the way home I noticed a woman standing on the corner. She had a sign and her head hung pretty low. I watched her while I sat at the light – BUT I DID NOT STOP. I didn’t stop.  Sometimes it’s just too damn much. Maybe it was the despair I felt when I saw her sitting there. This is a very suburban area that tends to be untouched by homelessness. However, in the past year

“You may be pretty, and you may be talented, but no one will remember that if you’re mean.” - Katie Holmes In a different time and place I was a mean girl.  I certainly wasn’t the meanest of mean girls – but I was mean nonetheless.   I wasn’t particularly popular but I hung out with the same few girls and we were a bit cliquey.  One of our group traits was to exclude a girl a year.  I wish I could remember how we decided whose turn it was to be “on the out” – but I have a feeling it wasn’t really planned.  Suddenly, that girl just wasn’t cool anymore. We no longer invited her to events, asked her to sit with us at lunch and generally ignored her and talked bad about her behind her back.  At the time I didn’t think much about it or how the “outed” girl felt.  I was super tight with the ringleader and never really worried much about my stance. That is, until I wasn’t. One day – my friends no longer wanted to talk with me.  They switched out of classes we’d signed up for toge

“I am obsessed with becoming a woman comfortable in her own skin.” - Unknown Comfortable in my own skin.  It’s a bit of a weighted concept.  Literal or rhetorical – it comes down to looking into the mirror and thinking “Wow – you go girl – all that hard work has paid off.”   I’ve always been a bit of an exercise junky – so staying fit, healthy and active has been an extremely important part of my adult life.   Vanity is a powerful motivator – being able to fit into jeans that are 10 years and at least 2 babies old always makes me smile.  However, the mental effects are so much more rewarding.  I have more energy, less stress and am generally a nicer person when I get regular exercise.  I love walking into the gym – full of crab and grump – and walking out feeling like a million bucks. So, I was completely thrilled to realize I could incorporate my love of fitness into the kind year journey!  This month I’ve been able to support 2 great causes though fitness “jams”.  A “jam” se

“World Food Day is a day of action against hunger. On October 16, people around the world come together to declare their commitment to eradicate hunger in our lifetime. Because when it comes to hunger, the only acceptable number in the world is zero.” Did you know that October 16th is  World Food Day ? In honor of World Food Day and the upcoming holiday season, I’m really excited to bring the group a fun, easy, simple way to fight hunger. It began as the “15 can challenge” but since we are just a smidge behind schedule I’ve decided to dub our campaign “10 Cans of Conscious Kindness.” Essentially, you commit to buying an extra grocery item each week for 10 weeks and at the end donate the food stuffs to the charity of your choice. I love this for many reasons: Charity of your choice: This could be your elderly neighbor that you know lives on a fixed income, or a teenage mom at your church just starting out. It could be a single Mom in your neighborhood who struggles but is doi

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Laozi So I’ve been a bit discouraged the past few weeks.  When I started the Kind Year I had all sorts of visions about the incredible activities and connections that would happen.  Great, big, wonderful, amazing moments of kindness.  However, reality set in. I work full time, have two kiddos in school with extra-curricular activities and my hubs has been traveling for work more and more frequently.  Suddenly I was overwhelmed by everything and my kindness journey hit some major bumps. Don’t get me wrong – being kind is a way of life for me so I kept on keeping on  - just on a much smaller scale.  I am always gratified by helping – that never changes – but I felt my “grand gesture” was missing.  My kindness journey no longer felt young, new and full of promise…it suddenly felt tired, old and boring.  I was discouraged, saddened and feeling a bit like a failure.  Then I decided to step back, take a deep breath a