pass it on

I pull up to our favorite local coffee shop for a mocha on the run. They have a drive thru (best feature ever for moms with sleeping tots) and when I got my mocha the barista passed this through the window. She said someone dropped off a stack of them and only asked that they be handed out and please tell people to pay it forward.

We tucked that $5 away and pondered what we could do to pay it forward. After some thinking about that sweet boy lost too soon, I came up with two things my little boy loves more than anything... books and surprise treats.  So I talked it over with Zach and we split that $5 bill in to five singles. He drew some pictures and I wrote a simple note of explanation.

Then we headed to the library. At this point, Zach got cold feet. He was convinced hiding surprises in the books might be against the law despite my assurances. So he sat and read and pointed me towards some of his favorite books, and I went to work tucking five surprises into five books in the children's section. Knowing how excited Z gets at finding a nickel, a dollar is a windfall to a kid. But even if you don't have a few bucks to spare, you and your little ones can simply write kind notes and tuck them into the pages of books, spreading a little sunshine.

(Peter And The Starcatchers is a favorite series...)

Then we went home imagining the happy faces of little ones opening a book to read and getting $1 to keep all for themselves. I hope in that dollar they see that there is more good in this world than bad, more kindness than greed, more love than hate. Pass it on.