It started right from the beginning…
When you were pregnant, you had an amazing baby shower, with tons of thank-yous to send for the thousand and one things (useful or not) you received for your little one’s arrival… You got that super-cool swing that saved your life time and time again, and you never ran out of diapers… He got organic baby food and tried a phenomenal variety of foods because you wanted the best for him…
At age 2, your little one got his first tricycle, and ever since, every year—like a ritual—you’ve traded in his bike for a bigger one. You’ve taken him on vacation every summer to enjoy the ocean and the sun… Your child has had beautiful clothes and a brand-new backpack to start the school year, and he’s zoomed down the slides at breakneck speed at the water park in the summer and skied down the slopes in the winter… His lunch has always been well-stocked, and you’ve been able to give him the experiences you wanted without too much trouble; he’s enjoying a joyful childhood full of laughter…
You’re a privileged mom… Yes, your little one is very lucky, but so are you… While you don’t have to worry too much about back-to-school, there’s a mom out there whose heart breaks because she can’t give the best to the person she considers the most important in the world—her own little one… When her child has a less impressive lunch than yours because that’s all there was left, her heart will ache, you know… When the warm weather arrives and her son is the only one on the street without a bike, she’ll cry at night after putting on a brave face in front of him—even as tears rolled down her cheeks because she couldn’t take him for a bike ride around the neighborhood…
To you, the privileged mom… To you who’ll have the joy of seeing your child’s smile by the sea (a lake works just as well) with their feet in the sand. To you, the mom who’ll watch your kid splash around in the pool, jump on the trampoline, and ride their bike home from a friend’s house. To you, the supermom who’ll have everything your little one needs for back-to-school… I’d like to tell you just how privileged you are… You have a chance that some don’t: to see your child want for nothing… You’re lucky enough to see your child live their childhood without having to worry about the financial concerns adults face, because when you’re the only one without a bike, when your lunch is always less appealing than everyone else’s, the adult world creeps in all too quickly…
To you, the privileged mom, I’d like to say: that mom who has it harder—no matter what you think of her—has a child just like yours, who deserves, just like yours, to have a bike to ride off and play with the neighborhood gang… Pass it on if you can.
When your little one’s shiny red bike has gotten too small, why not give it to a child who doesn’t have one? The bike is just an example, mind you—it’s actually a good idea for quite a few things… Share however you can, to spread your good fortune to someone else’s backyard, because there should be sunshine for everyone… And as we all know, sunshine makes people happy!
An African proverb says it takes a village to raise a child; I believe it takes a village to help children grow into beautiful, upright, strong, proud, and confident adults…