I have never been more proud of my daughter than I am today. She will be five years old next week, and is already so wise beyond her years that it isn’t even funny. She has a kind heart and a gentle soul and I am in awe of the person she is becoming.

We have had quite a few very cold mornings around here lately. After I strap the kids in their car seats, they each get a blanket on top of them and have their winter coats nearby for when we get out of the car. We don’t use coats in car seats because of safety issues, so we keep warm this way! As we were driving to school today, we naturally had to stop for a million school busses, kids crossing the road, school drop off lines, etc. Taylor always loves watching the kids walking inside the various schools we pass and comments about their outfit choices, backpacks, or the fun characters on their lunch boxes. As we were stopped waiting for a bus to pick up children, Taylor sighed heavily and sounded very upset. I asked her what was wrong and could see the concern on her face. She said “I’m just trying to figure out why that girl out there looks so sad. I think she’s shivering. Where’s her coat, Mommy?” Sure enough, there was probably an eight year old girl in the crosswalk who had her arms tightly wrapped around her body, clearly trying to stay warm. I took a mental note of the 40 degree temperature, thankful that it wasn’t even lower today, and drove on as I explained to Taylor that sadly, not all children have coats. She could not wrap her head around this concept and wanted to know why the girl didn’t remember to take her warm coat out of the closet before school this morning. I took the opportunity to discuss with Taylor that we are very fortunate to have the things we have, but not all people are that lucky and that yes, some people don’t even have coats to wear. This obviously made her very sad, but she understood. She said to me “Mommy, can we please go buy coats for all of the kids who don’t have one and give them mine that don’t fit me anymore?” Break my heart. She rattled off the names of some of her friends who have “lots of coats and warm blankets” at home and said her friends would want to help her get coats for other kids. So, before 8:30am and before having any coffee in my system, Taylor and I planned out a coat drive. Her little face lit up and she is so excited that this was her idea and that she will be helping other children. She can not wait to see how much she can collect for others. Her expectations are high, and we will support her in this however we can.

I have already been in contact with a woman at a local organization, who will gladly work with us through this collection, and am very eager to help Taylor with this. It makes me so proud to see her heart in the right place and to see her figuring out ways to take action. She’s a problem solver, as my mom always tells her, and she just means so well. If you are local and would like to donate coats or any winter gear (new or gently used) we have a drop off bin on our front steps already! If you would like to contribute a gift card that we will use to purchase new coats, we will gladly accept that too. I can be reached at twinsandtiaras@gmail.com with any questions! For my non-local followers, I’m sure there are lots of organizations closer to you that would love your coats as well. Please consider looking into it.

In honor of our birthday month, Taylor and I will be collecting coats, hats, scarves, etc. for the entire month of November. All sizes are welcome (infant through adult). Please help us help others and keep T’s beautiful spirit up. Thank you.