Day 3-6: Catching Up

Catching up a little bit while I have a quiet Sunday moment. Let's get started, shall we?

Day 3: Warm Heart

We've been very fortunate to have good friends who have handed down fabulous clothes for our little guy. As he grows out of his clothes, we look for opportunities to pass on the gifts to someone else.

I've been looking forward to the annual coat drives for a while. And with the holidays in full swing, I knew it was time to go through our outgrown coats to share with someone who needed them.

We found eight coats that were just too small for our growing boy. He helped us go through all of them. And though he was particularly fond of the "one with the mittens." We took some time to explain that we were going to give his old coats and jackets to friends who needed them. He was instantly on board.

One of the biggest coat drives is the Warm Coats & Warm Hearts coat drive sponsored by Burlington and Good Morning America. You just take your coats over to your local Burlington and drop them in the box at the front of the store. Easy breezy.

Once we got to the store, the little guy wanted to do it himself (like everything at this age). So one-by-one he put the coats into the donation box and talked to himself about "helping his friends."

 

Truly heart warming.

Day 4: Bottles

Honestly, today was just as much for us as it was for doing "goodest." We collect bottles and cans to recycle. They were cluttering up our garage. Solution? Recycle them. Do something good for the environment.

It was pretty busy at the recycling center. People cleaning up for the holidays? Folks looking to make little extra cash for gifts? I'm not sure. But it was quick and easy to dump our already sorted bottles into the trash can bins, get them weighed--and yes, get paid.

I'm happy we recycled. (And we put the money we make towards a college fund.) But I know we could do better.

For the most part, we all use reusable water bottles. Yet, we still enjoy the convenience of recyclable plastic. We all drink plain water. Yet, we all enjoy the flavored stuff.

Could we cut it out? Absolutely. In fact, I'm adding it to the list of things that we need to do, well, "gooder."

Day 5: In My Shoes

We regularly recycle our worn out athletic shoes (sneakers, tennis shoes, whatever you call them in your neck of the woods) at Nike as part of their Reuse-A-Shoe program.

If you haven't heard about it, Nike will take your old, worn-out shoes, recycle them, and create a product called Nike Grind which is used for athletic and playground surfaces. So cool.

Though we've been recycling our shoes for years, this was the first time for the little guy. Once we explained that the shoes would be turned into playgrounds, he was sold. He practically dragged us from the car into the store. He was ready to help "the peoples."

 

 

I hope there's a kid somewhere that's enjoying his Nike Grind playground as much as our kid enjoyed taking our old, dirty shoes to be recycled.

Fewer shoes in landfills. More shoes on the playground!

Day 6: Fortunate Ones

I try to live my life with gratitude for the things I have. I'm not naïve. I know how fortunate we are. But even the past few days have been a reminder of just how truly blessed we are:

• We never have to worry about being warm.
• We can recycle empty water bottles, when in some places just having clean water is a luxury.
• We can recycle shoes that aren't quite "fit" to wear, when some people struggle to have shoes to protect their feet.
• We can give without it being a sacrifice.

It's the last reminder that I took a while to take shape in my consciousness. We can give, because we have so much. What about those that don't? How can they give? Or even better, are there any true "sacrifices" that we can learn to make so that they benefit others?

I'm still exploring the answers to these questions, and it's something I hope to learn as part of this journey.