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We are an online community of kind-hearted individuals who directly donate gently loved children's clothes to mothers who could use a little kindness. The wonderful donating mothers lovingly box up the clothes that they once loved their own kiddos in and send them for another mother to love on her children via the US Mail - Parcel Post. If you are in need, know someone in need or want to help by donating, please contact us at kindness@passitonbaby.com. If you can't do any of these but would like to spread our message - thank you kindly! ~ Elizabeth & Heather

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Stumbling Through Reality

Please note: If this is your first time visiting our blog, please click here to hear the premise of Pass It On, Baby! and how it all began.... Pass It On, Baby!

I’m not even sure how to begin this post. I feel so embarrassed and the last thing I wanted to do was share this occurrence. But, I guess I feel that if I can get this out, maybe I can just move on with a clear conscience.

I feel like a fraud….

This entire blog is dedicated to kindness, charity and giving back. If you’ve read any of my entries, you get it and I don’t even need to go any further. Anyhow, here’s how it all began….

I am leaving for vacation this weekend with my family. We are so excited just to spend time together at the ocean. My extended family all rents homes in the same vacation spot this particular week, so it is not only a vacation, but sort of a family reunion too. I just love it, look forward to it every year and love the tradition of the family reunion/vacation at the shore that I have been raised on, that my parents were raised on and now that my own children are raised on. Needless to say, packing my kids, my husband and myself for the week takes a week in itself. Monday, the true pressure started as the date is quickly approaching, so like a million moms that morning, I took my kids to Target for some essentials. Everything was going well until I tempted fate and decided to try on a swimsuit. Since you can’t bring carts in the dressing room, I unbuckled my two little ones (3 and 1) and took them in to the dressing room. That was the beginning of the end. Having their freedom, they started to run around the dressing room, open the door while I was getting dressed – it escalated so fast that I abandoned the idea of trying on anything and headed straight to check out. By now, they were out of their seats, flailing around and I was doing mental exercises to keep myself calm and smiling. (which by the way, wasn’t working) I got them out to the car, got everyone buckled in and felt the relief wash over me. I just had to feed them lunch and put them down for naps and everything would be back on track. I could handle another five minutes in melt-down mode.

I pulled out of the parking lot and saw some people standing on one of the grassy medians. As I got closer, I could tell that there were two adults and two children…and they were holding a sign. It was one of those cardboard signs that read, “Family In Need.” My heart broke. I checked my purse and didn’t have any cash on me. At the same time, my kids were still melting down. I started to panic. I felt like this was one of those tests in life to prove your true character and here I was coming up completely empty. I started to think about where the nearest ATM was…my mind was racing so fast I wasn’t even thinking about simply asking them what they needed. The nearest ATM I could think of was about two miles in the opposite direction. I didn’t know what to do and by this time I was very close to them. I gestured that I didn’t have any cash on me and drove away. After I passed them and happened on the ATM, I turned in only to have the meltdown increase. I promised myself that I would circle back later on, but the day just got away from me. That was three days ago and writing these words literally has me sick to my stomach. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve thought about them in the last few days or envisioned those kids standing next to their mom and dad.

And so, as I started all of this…..I feel like a FRAUD.


I don’t have any of the answers. I am trying just like you to be better, to make the right choices, to make the world a little better – but I’m making some big mistakes as I go and I have no idea on how to resolve them.

Anyhow, I feel sick. There are so many people in the world needing help, at times it feels overwhelming. I don’t know what you do about this each and every day. I have no answers. I guess the answer is that we each do our best and hope that it is good enough. Hope that when you total them all together it makes a difference.

In love and kindness,

Email Elizabeth & Heather

5 comments:

  1. Hi,

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    Warm Regards

    Vaca-tion.info Team

    http://www.vaca-tion.info

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  2. Now Elizabeth,

    Just because you didn't give once doesn't mean you are a fraud, anyone in that situation with two kids melting would do the same thing. You wanted to give and that shows kindness of heart.

    Sure it's terribly heartbreaking so see a family like that. But I'm sure God placed someone able to give in their paths that day, or the next. There is help for them somewhere. You quit beating yourself up. We all can't do everything.

    Several years ago a family I didn't know but grew to love had a child diagnosed with cancer. For months I gave them my last dollar and met every need I could for them. They'd have a need and I'd try to meet it. I loved them and their little boy.

    Then as life happened, a time came whe I couldn't. It was give to them and my own family starves, I just couldn't, and I felt so terrible. So very terrible. But, this amazing thing happened, when I quit hogging the needs others stepped up. A community of givers was born. It was beautiful, I was blessed by seeing how good people really could be, when given the chance.

    You gotta quit beating yourself up. You do what you can when you can...we understand.

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  3. Elizabeth,

    You unfortunately can NOT help everyone. I know that is hard to take. I hate to give people money because I never know what they are going to do with it, but I found another solution. I get gift cards in small amounts for fast food places and carry them around in my car, then I just give them one of them. I know it is not much, but it is something.

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  4. Sara said everything I was thinking (only she said it 10 times more beautifully than I could have)!

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  5. Just the thought of wanting to help speaks greatly for your spirit. Fraud, you are not.

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