Positively Mom Street

“Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people.  A nation does not need to be cruel in order to be tough.” – Franklin Delano Roosevelt Hello from the Big Apple! So, I’m actually writing this from the train – I feel so very urban!  As you may or may not know – I work from home in the beautiful state of Colorado.  My employer is located in Manhattan and I was lucky enough to fly out and spend a few days meeting everyone and seeing the sights.  Right before I left, I was telling  my boss I was a bit nervous about getting from Newark all the way to Times Square – and he laughed a bit and said “Just ask anyone on the street for help – New Yorkers LOVE that.  Ya know – being so nice and all.” Gulp. Now I don’t necessarily believe the hype that New Yorkers are mean.  I mostly believe they are busy people that don’t have the time for lost Coloradans wandering their streets asking for random directio...

“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 y...

“No one has ever become poor by giving.”  ―  Anne Frank ,  diary of Anne Frank I’ve been doing this kindness gig for about 2 months now.  It’s been really fun to play the “random kindness super hero” game but it feels, I don’t know, too random?  Like I want to do something concrete & tangible that I KNOW will make a difference on a regular basis. So, the other day the kids and I went to Panda Express. Don’t judge me.  :-) Yes – I know it’s not “real” Asian food and no – I don’t really care. LOL.  My kids LOVE this place and I find it a great little guilty pleasure when I crave something Asian but don’t want to shell out $40 for the good stuff.  So I’m ringing out and the cashier says “Do you want to round up to $19 and donate your change?” Hmmm….that got me thinking.  First – YES – of course I want to round up!  Odd numbers make me nervous AND make it harder to balance my bank account.  Second – I’m a sucker for a ...

“Well, I ain’t always right but I’ve never been wrong. Seldom turns out the way it does in a song. Once in a while you get shown the light In the strangest of places if you look at it right.” - Scarlet Begonias, The Grateful Dead We recently returned from a week long trip to the East coast.  Hubs and I both grew up in Syracuse, NY and are the only ones in our entire family that left the area.  We try to get back as much as possible but it ends up being a yearly venture due to time and expense – getting a family of four from Colorado to upstate New York isn’t exactly easy or cheap but it’s incredibly important for our kiddos to know their family so we make sure to visit.   I’ll be honest – I was really dreading the trip this year.  It has been one horror story after another with people behaving badly on planes and I just KNEW, with our luck, we would be stuck dealing with an airplane crazy.  So, I packed our bags, added lots of Dramamine (if the peeps we...

It started out as a normal Tuesday morning with the usual madness - getting kiddos dressed, fed and out the door to buses, schools and daycare.  Everything moved along according to plan - except the bus - it was late. And not 5 minutes late but a good 10 - and I was getting frustrated.  I needed to get the littlest to daycare and my work day into full swing - but we were stuck waiting for the bus.  Finally - a small white car drove up; someone spoke quickly to the parents on the corner, and everyone starting moving towards the other end of the street.  One of the Dad's came up to me and said there was a crime scene at the park (just a block or so away from our house) and the buses couldn't get through. "Suicide" he said, shaking his head and walking away. Suicide.  What a weighted word.  I was sad and a bit curious.  Where was the body?  When did it happen?  I quickly backed out of the driveway and headed off for daycare - taking our nor...