“I’m nervous.” (Michael, my 6 year old son)
“Why?” (me)
“I don’t know. I just am.” (Michael)
That is a part of the conversation that I had with Michael last Monday. If you recall, it was a hot (100+ degrees) day in New York City. We had just picked up a box of popsicles on the way home from playing in the sprinkler at the local playground. We had passed by our doorman on the way into our building and he looked overheated (like everyone else!). After we spoke and walked past him, it occurred to me that he might like a popsicle to help him cool off. That is why I asked Michael to go and give him one. That is when the whole little “nervous” conversation came up.
I asked Michael if he thought the doorman might like something cool. He did. Once I reassured him that I would go with him, he went back to the doorman and asked if he would like a popsicle. He did and Michael was so pleased with himself that he had overcome his fear and done a “good deed”. He was a little too pleased. When we got to our apartment, he asked if we could get another box of popsicles the next day and the day after to give to other hot people. I hated to curb his enthusiasm, but I let him know that I wasn’t a popsicle factory. Rather, we would give them to people as we bought new boxes. It was a great idea that he had though!
That is why I was so excited when I was asked to be part of 77kids Do Good Day NYC team by my friend Emily of The Motherhood. Here’s the scoop: On July 14th, 77kids by American Eagle is hosting 77kids Do Good Day in 11 cities around the country with 7 bloggers from each city. The are doing this to celebrate the five locations in which they will be opening new 77kids by American Eagle stores and to create a way to “spread goodness” in other locations too. Meet the rest of the 77kids Team NYC:
-Ellen Schmidt, Baby Meets City
-Emily McKhann, TheMotherhood
-Jen Rabulan-Bertram, Next Kid Thing
-Jessica Shyba. Momma’s Gone City
-Sherri Schubert, Mom Trends
And
-Suzanne Chan, Mom Confessionals
Because it was so hot, we wanted to hand out popsicles to hot New Yorkers in the Times Square area (yes, I wanted to “borrow” Michael’s idea). Because of the melting factor, we decided on cold water instead with labels mentioning our favorite NYC based kid-focused charities. Alas, we needed to change our idea due to logistics. So, now we will be giving out flowers to random New Yorkers in the Library/Bryant Park area. Do you know what else we will be giving out? DOLLARS. That’s right, each team member is being given 77 singles to give out to random people. They can go and get their own popsicle. 🙂
So, if you happen to be in the library/Bryant Park area on Wednesday around 12:30ish, keep a look out for me and the rest of the team. (We will be the obvious people with the flowers and free-flowing dollars!) Come on by because I would love to do a little “good” for you. Even better, do something good – alone or with your kids – that day. It doesn’t have to be anything big and grandiose. Every little bit of goodness helps! Meanwhile, even though my team won’t be doing the labels highlighting our charities, I’ll place my label on this blog post:
Thank you!
Disclosure: I was paid a monetary stipend by The Motherhood on behalf of 77kids by American Eagle for participating in this project. I’m getting paid to do good. How cool is that?