Allstate: Good Hands for the Good Life
This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Allstate for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.
If you have not yet watched the video above, I strongly encourage you to do so, as it shares a beautiful message. I found myself tearing up as I watched all the wonderful things my children’s future can hold if they do not let fear stand in their way. The world can be very scary place to send your child out into and sometimes we find ourselves sheltering them in order to protect them from all of the bad. As a mother, I never want my children to feel sadness and that often leads to sparing them the details of the upsetting events that occur each day. I know that I can’t always be there to protect them and they are going to encounter sad situations.
The other day my daughter and I drove into the city to bring my husband lunch. As we came to stop at a red light, my daughter’s attention was immediately drawn to a man, beside our car, holding up a sign. I personally find myself overwhelmingly sad when I see a homeless person on the side of the road, so my first instinct was to brush it off or tell a white lie. But as I sat there, wondering how I could explain this to my daughter, I decided it was better for her to truly understand why he was standing in the road with a card board sign. I went on to tell her that not everyone is blessed to have enough money for food and shelter and that many people live on the streets. My daughter is one of the most compassionate people I know and I could see her face melt from the moment I explained to her what it means to be homeless. The pain in her face was what I had wanted to avoid, it broke my heart to see her that sad. Soon her curiosity soared and she began asking about children and if they went without homes as well. After a long discussion with my daughter, we were able to find a great movie that helped her to understand homeless children even further. The most wonderful idea was born from this, my daughter decided she wanted to part with some of her clothes and toys and give to children that don’t have any. I was so proud of her as she grabbed a hold of perfectly good toys and announced “I don’t really play with this a lot and I know another little girl would love it!” She ended up donating three bags full of clothes, shoes, and dolls to a shelter for homeless women and children and I couldn’t be more proud of my sweet young girl.
Yes, there are thousands of families without a place to call home and food to fill their stomachs. Yes, many families lose their jobs, lose their homes and live on the streets. Sometimes we would rather look the other way because talking about it will make us sad. SAD things happen to people all of the time, but that doesn’t mean we should go on living live as if they don’t happen. On the day our car passed a homeless man, I could have easily brushed it off and not explained to my daughter what he was doing there. Instead, I chose to explain a very sad situation that happens to many people and as a result, my daughter discovered what she can do to make a difference. She stepped out of her comfort zone, overcame the sadness and sought out a positive alternative to how she could help. She was able to help a handful a families with her donations, something that would not have been possible if I had let my fear avoid the subject of homelessness. I am so happy of the decision I made that afternoon and would do it again in a heart beat!