August 22, 2007
Pay It Forward
Do you remember that movie from several years ago, "Pay it Forward"? I thought that most of that movie was very cool, all except for the ending. Regardless, it was nice to see a movie about trying to be nice to other people; because all people should seriously try more of that in their every day lives.
This morning, Big I had a playdate with her best friend. Big I’s friend also has a little sister, only a few months older than Lil C. When I dropped her off, Lil C started digging into the toys and playing with the girls, and the next thing I knew I was accepting the Mom’s very gracious offer to keep both of the girls for the play date while I had some time to myself (Trust me on this one-I can always use some time to myself after Mr. BBM has been traveling).
I’ve never left Lil C with a non-relative before and I wasn’t sure how she’d react; but she seemed so interested in staying and playing and it was only for a few hours in the morning, so I left and had absolutely no clue what to do with my morning of freedom.
First I went to the post office to pick up a box to mail all our Polly Pockets back to Mattel. GRR, on that subject. Damn those toy manufacturers with their magnets and their stupid toxic paint, and why isn’t Mattel paying for the stupid box I have to send the stuff back in?!? Sorry, tangent. Anyway. . .
Then I had an idea. Instead of going home and taking a shower (or a nap-which would have been so sweet), I decided to pay it forward.
I quickly picked up supplies and came home to cook up a feast. I made a home made chicken pie for us, and I made one for my grandparents as well. I also made cream cheese and chocolate chip dark chocolate brownies for the play date Mom and her family.
When I went back to pick up Lil C, she was eating lunch and smiling. When I asked her if she had fun she said, "yeah" and grinned ear to ear.
We then drove over to my grandmothers house to drop off the chicken pie. Lil C had fallen asleep and she’s a load. So, I asked Big I to carry the chicken pie into the house. As I was maneuvering the door and trying to let Big I pass in front of me, she dropped the pie.
It would have been fine, but instead of picking it up horizontally, she picked it up vertically. I wanted to cry. When we got inside, I unwrapped my creation and the pretty pre-baked pie I had put together was no more. My grandmother grabbed a spoon and started scooping it back into shape. It wasn’t going to look pretty, it was really more of an upside down pie, but at least I know it tasted good.
We spent the afternoon hanging out with and talking to my grandmother. She told me so many cool things about her mother and father, her aunts and her uncles, and what life was like back when she was young. Although I’ve heard many of her stories multiple times, today’s stories were all new and they were an absolute joy to hear.
I made her day with my chicken pie, and she made my day with her original tales.
If this story made you smile, then pay it forward yourself. Maybe we can start a trend.
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Good idea! And ironically, my 17yo daughter is working tonight, my hubby and our 9 yo son are going to Cardinals baseball game tonight, so guess who has the night to herself for ONCE??? Yep, me! I plan on training on the heavy bag, practicing my katas and moves for yellow belt testing (Yes, I’m still a white belt – can you say newbie?)But I’m very determined. Then I’m going to hem my gi and sew the patch my son earned on his gi. Watch the Weeds episode I missed Monday and then I was just going to vegg out. But now I think I’ll have to add a “pay-it-forward” kind of thing…hmmm the possibilities…Thanks for the idea, BBM!
Thanks for visiting my blog. I’ve responded to you at my Tekki post. Sorry I’m putting a comment under a non-MA post. Blogs don’t cater very well towards this kind of dialog, do they?
Colin
I made a cheesecake over the weekend, does that count? Hmph. Well maybe I can do something nice today!
Before I forget, if you haven’t already, sit down with your grandmother and some kind of recording device. My mom and I sat down with my grandfather one time and just listened to stories. He talked about our family, about his time working as a migrant farmer during the depression and his work building Liberty Ships in the bay during WWII. He talked about the first car in their neighborhood and about my mom and her brothers as kids. I love to tell stories, but I cherish those recordings very much and nobody tells those stories as well as he did.
i love that whole pay it forward mentality. more people should get on board. thanks for the reminder!
Great blog.
I’ve applied the same logic to looking after my kids … when they asked what they ‘owed’ me for bringing them up and caring for them I responded that they should pay the love and caring forward to their children.
My mother, on the other hand, is not entirely convinced of this and suggests that some payback coming her way would be good 🙂
i too love the whole Pay It Forward mentality. what a different place the world would be if everyone lived that way. but i find a lot of people take kindness but don’t feel the need to pass it along. i guess all i can do is remember myself to pass along any kindness sent my way.
Great blog. Karma or whatever you want to call it is one, perhaps the only, Universal constant.
Hey, I did the pay it forward thing the other day – kind of backward though. Nothing had been done “just because” for me, but BBM’s post inspired me to start the ball rolling. I bought flowers for a lady at work who takes care of her sick boyfriend (for years) and doesn’t get much for herself. It made her day (and mine) then yesterday, I was at a thrift store (my favorite haunts) and their check machine wasn’t working so I couldn’t get this pretty picture frame because I only had a tiny bit of cash on me. I had part of my son’s Halloween costume that would be very hard to find elsewhere, so I had to choose that to get. The lady behind me overheard me and bought the frame for me. Wasn’t that sweet? So, I told her I’d “pay it forward” and now I gotta do something else! (Hey, I let a guy out of his street in morning rush hour traffic this morning – does that count? LOL!)