Taylor Made Choices

Last week, I picked Kiera up from school and let her come back to work with me. We had a big event we were prepping for and I figured it would be a good opportunity for her to volunteer a little.

“Can I have a snack before I start?” she asked.

“Sure.” I responded, walking to the kitchen to see what we had that qualified as a snack. I grabbed her a bag of chips and a root beer. Don’t judge.

“Thank you.” She stated as I handed them off to her. “Can I watch YouTube for a few minutes?”

I glanced to the stack of bags that I planned on having her stuff and glanced back to the root beer and greasy chips. Imagining the fate of the bags, I made a quick decision. “Yes. You can watch YouTube for a few minutes. But once you are done with your snack, wash your hands and then you can work on the bags.”

“Deal.” She replied happily.

I went back to my office and worked for a short bit before checking back on her. “You ready?” I asked.

“I think so.” She responded hesitantly.

After washing her hands, she pulled her rolling chair up to the table that held the 100 bags.

“Mom!” She exclaimed. “This is a billion bags! I’ll never get these done.”

“Yes, you will. It’s not a billion bags.” I hesitated at telling her it was actually 100 bags, thinking that probably didn’t sound any better than a billion.

“Look, this is all you have to do.” I grabbed the business cards and slid them in the bag. “See? You will be done in no time!” I said trying to add excitement to my voice.

“Would you like some music?” I asked.

She quickly decided she wanted to listen to Taylor Swift. I turned it on for her and she happily proceeded to stuff the bags.

Later during the week, she was explaining to someone that she had stuffed “a ton of bags.”

“You did?” The person responded.

“Yes. I did.” She stated proudly.

“She did.” I replied, brushing Kiera’s hair back from her face. “She did a great job and really helped us out.”

Kiera proudly smiled and shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. “It’s because I had Taylor Swift.”

The lady we were talking to tried to hide the puzzled look on her face. “Oh… you did?” She asked her tone filled with curiosity.

I tried not to laugh as I hurried to explain how Taylor Swift was not actually hanging out in our office but in this moment was actually the motivating force behind her achievement.

Now, don’t get me wrong. She wasn’t originally excited about her volunteering part. In fact, she learned a lesson from it. I am proud that even sometimes when she might not want to help, she chooses to help… even if it takes a little bit of Taylor Swift.

Rowonna McNeely works as the Communications Manager for the Brownwood Area Chamber of Commerce. She and her husband, Aaron are regular volunteers in the community, and have their hands full with their daughter, Kiera, along with three dogs and one cat.

Thank you for sharing in our weekly journeys. If you have missed any of our past stories, check out our blog page at www.lifea2k.net or drop us a line at lifea2k@yahoo.com.