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I couldn’t sleep last night because of thinking about my “game plan.” Those that know me know I am quite obsessed with “special occasions” like birthdays and holidays. I believe that a kids’ most vivid memories usually involve those special times (at least mine do) so I think it is important that they be as special as possible!

Those special occasions are a big part of the “Chance” ideas I have. “Blow Out The Candles” was my initial idea…for birthdays, obviously. Every child should be able to have a birthday cake and gift (and ideally a party!). I’ve had my Halloween idea, “Trick or Treat, Give Me Something Good To Eat” in my mind for a couple of weeks but kept thinking it was too much to try to take on right now. Just like I’ve been doing for the past 10 years!

The “I can’t” thoughts were taking over, as usual. But then I realized I was making it about me. I didn’t know if I’d have time to do all the work that would be required to do this. I didn’t want to be embarrassed if it wasn’t successful. I didn’t want to risk looking like a failure. I, I, I. Me, me, me.

But it isn’t about me! It is about helping. It is about trying. It is about something I feel compelled to do. Plus, I realized I don’t have to do this alone. I can ask for help! This morning we contacted our church for some guidance on how to get the ball rolling. And I now have a whole BLOG full of help. I’ve spent 10 years saying “I’ll do it tomorrow or next week or next year.” Time to just do it now.

Yes, I know you are thinking “2 weeks Angela??” I’m thinking that too. But I work best under pressure. OK, not really. But that sounds better than saying I’m a procrastinator.

“Give me something good to eat” will combine trick or treating and a fun food drive of sorts.

Kids love trick or treating on Halloween. Some kids (many more than you think!) don’t have enough food to eat on a regular basis (I recently saw it referred to as “food insecurity” or not having enough money to buy a sufficient amount of food).

trickortreatfruitcup pinterest — Photo: pinterest.com

My hope is to set up in the parking lot of a local school (that has a shockingly high percentage of children living with food insecurity!) and have people set up a decorated table (or the back of their car or simply just stand there with a bucket!) on the Sunday before Halloween. The kids will go from table to table to table just like trick or treating but will get fun snack-type items (such as granola bars, mini boxes of cereal, fruit cups, etc) instead of candy. Snack foods that may be the only food in their house. Ideally I’d like to also have a costume collection so the kids can pick out something to wear on Halloween!

I’m not sure HOW to do this but I decided that if I don’t do anything, no one will be helped. If I try to do something, worst case scenario is no one will be helped. But best case is that a lot of people – a lot of KIDS – will be helped.

It could turn out that my family is standing alone in a parking lot with a bucket of food and no one to give it to. Or my family could be standing alone in a parking lot giving out a bucket of food to a few people. Or my family could be standing with a bunch of families from the community giving out buckets of food to a line of people. Or a bunch of families from a bunch of communities all over the place could be standing in a bunch of parking lots giving out buckets of food to a bunch of lines of people. You just never know

Regardless, trying to do something will never have a worse outcome than doing nothing. And now that I have a blog as my “voice,” I feel I must at least try. I know there are others out there that want to help but don’t know how. I just know it!

More information to come. I probably didn’t explain this very well because I typed this post very quickly. I type fast when I’m excited…and scared. But I wanted to get something posted before I had a chance to back out. Once it’s in writing, there’s no turning back, right??

This all depends on finding a place to hold this and being able to contact the right people in the short timeframe. So stay tuned. If it isn’t possible for this year, I will try not to be disappointed. I will try to look at it as having a year to plan. (And then I will probably be sending out information 2 weeks before…again.)

For now, I need you!!! Add a comment with your ideas! Think about how you would want to be involved. Would you want to hand out treats? Would you want to donate treats for someone else to hand out? Do you have costumes your kids have outgrown? Could you help spread the word to others you think would want to help (or need to be helped)? My email address is angelamcqn@aol.com if you don’t have a WordPress account (you need one to leave a comment here). Or you can message me your input at www.facebook.com/Momopolize or www.twitter.com/Momopolize. (I just figured out yesterday that you can send messages on Twitter. I am waaaaay behind the times.)

And yes, I do realize the entire song is…

“Trick or Treat. Smell my feet. Give me something good to eat. If you don’t, I don’t care. I’ll pull down your underwear.”

I assure you there will be no feet smelling or underwear pulling.

I first thought about starting a blog website 10 years ago. But I didn’t. And now I’m kicking myself for waiting so long. I’m so far behind in the race now, I don’t know how to ever catch up.

Ten years ago I had a community email distribution list. I loved it. I shared all kinds of information from concerts to playgroups, charity fundraisers to neighborhood crime, summer camps to missing pets. You know, community stuff.

I loved writing the emails and I loved feeling like I was bringing the community together, even in just a small way. The distribution list started as just my neighborhood and as it grew to surrounding cities and towns, my ideas grew. My game plan grew. I wanted to bring people together in a big way.

But my doubts and insecurities also grew. It’s one thing to send out informal emails. When you keep expectations low and simple, you don’t have far to fall if things don’t go as you want. When you tell everyone your grandiose ideas, you set yourself up for not just a possible fall, but a possible FAIL.

When I joined Facebook, my distribution list eventually went away. As more and more of the people on my email list were also on my FB friend list, I turned my focus to Facebook. And then as I realized there was a group or a page for pretty much everything anyone could ever want to know, my need to share information seemed to fade away too.

Yes, the list went away. But my ideas didn’t. I still felt the need to create some kind of global “community.” Some way for people to connect. Some way for people to help each other. But I didn’t know how. I didn’t know where to start. I didn’t know what to do. So I didn’t. For ten whole years, I didn’t.

But I wanted to. I even had a name for it. “Momopoly: The Real Game Of Life.” It would include Community Chest, an online community to share information. Chance for those in need of one. Reading Railroad for an online book club. Get Out Of Jail Free for a place to vent and talk about your struggles without judgement. The list went on…

Unfortunately, I waited so long that when I finally decided to start my blog…the name Momopoly had already been used. Twice. Of course it had. What did I expect by waiting 10 years without doing anything about my idea while millions of others were jumping on the blogging train?

It’s one of those times you wish you could turn back the clock. Have a do-over. Give me a Mulligan please!! Why did I wait so long? By this point, there probably aren’t ANY original ideas left.

However, I did manage to find a blog name that hadn’t been used. And Momopolize began. Not my first choice, but it will work. It is close enough to Momopoly that I still could potentially use the “Real Game Of Life” concept. We’ll see.

And the more I try to learn about the blogging rules, the more I realize writing is actually a small part of it. Getting followers is as much work as trying to be a first round draft pick. And without droves of followers, even the best ideas are futile.

So where do I go from here with Momopolize? Will I keep it simple and safe? Or try to bring my ideas into play? I don’t know. But I will stay in the game. Even if I joined the team 10 years too late.

Momopolize

Category Archives: Community

Trick or Treat, Don’t Smell My Feet

Delay of Game

Don't ask me about my kids or I will Momopolize the conversation!