For Purpose Kids Blog

Picture it…Sicily 1937…(just a little fun for those GG fans out there, and if you don’t know what tv show this is from, you are missing out!) 

No, but really, picture it…

…you’re driving home from soccer practice with your kids in the car, the light turns yellow and you slow to a stop at the intersection and there’s a man or woman standing there, with a sign saying that they are homeless and in need of help.

What do you do?

There are a few likely responses to this question and we’re going to talk about them- even the ones that make us feel uncomfortable.  Yep, come on, it’s time.

Hear ye, hear ye- another For-Purpose Kid is born! 

YES!  Princess Kate gave birth on Monday to Royal Baby #3, a bouncing baby boy whose name is still TBD, although the “experts” are saying that Arthur, Albert & James are the most likely (at least that’s what people are betting on in the UK).

I’ve always been fascinated by everything “Royal Family”

…and even have the commemorative spoons and mugs to prove it. 

Perhaps it stems from the year I lived in London after college, or perhaps it’s because I grew up like most girls in the US, where the idea of being a princess sounded magical and wonderful. 

However, most of us have grown up now and have realized, along with the many stories written about fallen princesses, that being a princess is probably a great deal harder than it looks.

With that being said, there is something so relatable and “down to earth” about Prince William and Princess Kate and like most of the world, I’ve become captivated by them, and the royal family, once again. 

STW, STN, STW, STR & STGTTIN…WTH?

Yep…it’s all the rage this year.  Have you figured it out yet?  No, well let me help you out.

It’s the cool way of referring to the 4 Gift Challenge you may have heard about, the…

“Something They Want, Something They Need, Something To Wear, Something To Read” approach to gift giving. 

But wait, there are still a few more letters there that we didn’t explain.  Oh yes, that’s because we added a 5^th “Gift” to the 4 Gift Challenge.

Can you guess what that might be?  Yes, of course! It’s the…

“Something to Give to Those in Need.”

 An idea that fits in so nicely with everything we do here at For-Purpose Kids.

(And the WTH…if you don’t know what that means, you’ll have to figure it out for yourself!)

I came upon this idea within the last year or two, but this will be the first year that I actually try and do it.  And I’m lucky, as this will only be my son’s second holiday season, so it will be easy for me to set the precedent this year without yells and screams of, “Where are all of the presents?”

TELL ME MORE, TELL ME MORE! (Admit it, you’re singing this song from Grease in your head right now)

OK- here’s the scoop on our new partnership…

When I started brainstorming ideas for For-Purpose Kids, one of the things I realized I wanted to do was to highlight and support companies that offered products for kids AND were focused on doing good in the world.  So when I met Samar Shaheryar, Co-Founder of Baby Hero, last year at a Holiday Market in Hong Kong, I knew that this was the type of company that I wanted to partner with.

When I started working on this blog post, I began writing from the perspective of someone who lived in Houston in 2005 and witnessed the devastation and long- term effects of those displaced by Hurricane Katrina.  I was then going to compare that experience with what just happened in Texas and suggest ways that kids could get involved in supporting Hurricane Harvey Relief, from raising money to collecting donations to send to those in need. 

But over the past week, we’ve all been inundated with articles and social media posts about how to provide support after Harvey…

…and as helpful and informative as some of them like this one are (and they are!), I decided to go in a bit of a different direction.

Today, I want to tell a story about Savannah, an awesome For-Purpose Kid in Florida, who came up with her own way to help those affected by Hurricane Harvey.

And I want to talk about Savannah’s journey of becoming a For-Purpose Kid, over the course of the past year.

Do we have you singing our blog title in your head right now?  GOOD!  That means we got your attention.

For some of us…the summer is half over.

We are well into the month of July, have eaten at least 5 S’mores (if you don’t know what those are, you are MISSING OUT!), have given up screaming at the kids to pick up their wet bathing suits off the floor and have probably glanced at the calendar wondering why school can’t start TOMORROW so we can get a break. OR…if you are like my Mom, you are trying to drag out each day just a liiiiittle bit longer so the time doesn’t come when the grandkids have to pack up and head back home.  Either way, the time is drifting by…

…and what do our kids have to show for it (and high scores on video games don’t count!)?

June 1, 2017 (or doomsday, as I like to refer to it) will go down in history as a day to remember…but probably not in a good way.  It will signify the day that the United States announced that it was withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, and as you can see- one of the For-Purpose Kids is pretty upset about it.

Wait…what just happened? 

It’s been an eventful week- and no, I’m not referring to the “events” (or tweets, or tapes) in Washington that are currently consuming all news and social media channels.  I’m talking about something else that occurred over the past five days.

My son had his first birthday.