Positively Mom Street

"Son of a bitch, give me a drink"  I think this pretty much sums up election night 2016. Regardless of candidate choice, drinks were drunk  - in celebration and commiseration. The question is - are you ready to put down the bottle?  Be cause whether your candidate won or lost - we're in it for the long haul.   "Meet the new boss...same as the old boss" Did you know only one half of our entire nation actually VOTED in the election?  And only HALF of them voted for either major party candidate?  So that means just about 25% voted Trump, and 25% voted Clinton - and 50% said "None of this is for me" and opted out.  Why? Alienation?  Discrimination?  Disenfranchisement? No matter but the fact remains that less than half of the nation felt the candidates were running "for them."  And that's pretty depressing.  "Darkness has a hunger that's insatiable - and lightness has a call that's hard to hear" ...

“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...

“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. ...

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 actua...

“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 the...

“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 oth...

“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...

“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...

“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 ca...

“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 ...

“Sometimes I think illness sits inside every woman, waiting for the right moment to bloom.” Gillian Flynn, Sharp Objects Not that I need to know or anything. I’m totally asking for a friend.  Well, alright – maybe it is for me. I wish I had a really exciting story that involved lots of shots and lampshades, but I am 40 and those days are long behind me. It’s party time…and I’m feeling right…at least for about 45 minutes. Instead it’s a story of not paying attention to my body, seriously over-eating and a drink or two that just weren’t what the doctor ordered. All I know is one moment – there I was – just hanging out and having fun with all my friends.  ’Cause of course all my friends were there.  When you throw up at a house warming party it HAS to be the one with all your besties.  The next thing I know I was laid out and desperately sick.   Thankfully I had ridden over with a friend so I didn’t have to figure out how to get my pukey-butt into my ...

“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 ...