"C" Pincher
I’m just marching along; continuing to tell everyone about the 10 curated styles of thoughtfulness as if nothing else in the world is happening. You are invited to march along with me. Or if you just started to follow Thoughtful Pinch, no worries - I have covered 6 thoughtfulness styles so far. The ones that start with the letter “P” are professional and proper, “I” - influenced and insightful and “N” - numbers and names. I might as well go over the two styles that begin with the letter “C” because if you’re like me, I need a brain break from learning more about COVID-19 and reading all those helpful suggestions on how to use my massive amounts of “free” time.
Between six moms we collaborated together in order to get the bedding for the crib, night light, receiving blankets and the bath/lotion/ soap/wipe set that were on a dance mom’s baby registry.
Diving right into this week’s styles of thoughtfulness, if you’re a “C” pincher, you’re someone who is “all in” for Collaborative group gifts. I love this style because the impact is truly great. For example, the L3 ballet moms pooled together some money to buy baby gifts for one dancer’s mom who is having her baby in April. I can’t even imagine giving birth during this pandemic - as if she doesn’t have enough to worry about! Anyway, some moms contributed $10 and some gave $50 but the range in contribution wasn’t a factor. Together, we were able to buy a great gift for this soon-to-be mama. The Collaborative style, when fully agreed upon by the group, makes everyone feel good about contributing. Most of the time, dividing up a group gift and assigning a set contribution amount per person makes it totally fair and easy. However, if there is someone in the group who is tight on cash and cannot afford the assigned amount, this may be tricky. Or if someone doesn’t want to give that amount of money because of personal reasons towards the recipient, that could be awkward. When I lead a Collaborative effort to give a thoughtful pinch, I usually ask people to give what they feel comfortable giving and/or if there are three coaches but the giver only wants to contribute to the head coach, that’s fine too. Usually this works out just fine and no one needs to feel bad about the amount they are contributing. A different, yet positive trait of a pincher who likes to Collaborate is that you have figured out what works best for you. You might almost pay double not to: 1. think about, 2. shop for and 3. prepare a gift. Happily contributing monetarily is realistic and it protects your time because you would rather be doing something else. This form of self-care and thoughtfulness shared in this way, can be very positive for all those involved.
I’m so glad to have Frankie Lenzmeier, Allison Gartner and Wendy Witherspoon in my life. These three gals right here are definitely “C” pinchers! They will Celebrate any occasion and make it special. Thank you for always Celebrating with me!
The other “C” style of thoughtfulness is Celebratory. This one is fun! If this is your style, you’re that person who will Celebrate EVERY occasion. You are constantly picking up cupcakes or a bottle of wine because you support your friends and family in everything they do. Most Celebratory pinchers are tuned into what’s going on around them. They don’t have to dig deep to find a reason to turn any event into a special one for those they care about. People who show their thoughtfulness in this way don’t think of celebrating as a lot of work. Instead, it brings them joy to put something together. Have no fear - if there should ever be a need for something to celebrate, Nationaldaycalendar.com is a website that is overloaded with occasions and will help one to find a perfect reason to celebrate! I ABSOLUTELY love this website because it helps me to be thoughtful practically everyday. Warning: you may become addicted to this website and these national days if you are someone who likes to celebrate!
So what do you think? Did any of these styles of thoughtfulness make you say, “Yup, that’s me!”? Maybe both styles resonate. Or if none of the above make you feel warm and fuzzy, just hang on until next week. I’ll go into details about styles that begin with the letter “H”. The final two. Then at the end of March, let’s see if any of the 10 thoughtfulness styles match your way of you doing you.
Pinches,
Barb
