The Story of the Little Red Stool
I am often asked, “What’s the story behind the name of your business?” and I love to tell the story. I have also been asked to put it down in words. I have tried so many times to find the right words to share such a beautiful story but my perfectionist tendencies have kept me from finishing. Today is the day. I am putting my perfectionism aside and using good-enough words to hopefully communicate the love and care and compassion and hope behind my business.
The Story Behind the Name “Little Red Stool”
When I was student teaching at the end of my college education the school was doing a fundraiser. Not one of those “buy a bunch of popcorn that you’ll never eat” but more of a “Target in a magazine” kind of thing. There were so many fun things to choose from. And as a hopeful wife and mom I bought two things: a family fun cookbook and a little red stool. Now, when I say I was a hopeful wife and mom I mean, my parents married right out of college and it just seemed the natural next step for me. Did I mention I wasn’t dating anyone? Well, that’s important. So I bought a stool for my non-existent children. (Don’t try this at home… that’s one way to get you to a place where you need my services.)
Fast forward 1, 2, 5, 10 years and I still didn’t have any children. I wasn’t married either. But I sure did keep that stool. It was a symbol of hope for me. Something I chose for my future children as a way of helping them when they were not quite big enough to reach the sink to wash their hands and brush their teeth. More important than the fact that I kept that stool is that I continued to chose to keep that stool. Over the course of my adult life I moved several times. Each time I made the conscious decision to keep that stool for my non-existent children.
About 7 years ago I was able to use that little red stool for the first time. No, God had not given me children of my own but a sweet niece. I was beyond excited to have her spend the night and to wash her hands using that stool. To my shock, I found out the stool isn’t actually stable. Y’all, my precious little red stool wasn’t even useful! I had to stand behind my niece so the stool wouldn’t tip as she shifted. I laugh to myself when I think about that day.
I do still own that stool. It is the name of my business, after all. More than that, it is a reminder to me that the dear people who invite me into their homes have things that are precious to them, things that for some odd-to-others reason, they want to hold on to.
And now that little red stool holds my work bag.
What can you learn from my little red stool story?
I have personally held on to things that, from the outside, shouldn’t have been brought into my house in the first place much less kept around.
There are going to be things in your life that you want to hold on to that might not make sense to anyone else. That’s okay. It doesn’t have to make sense to anyone else. It’s your home. I won’t make you get rid of it.
Our lives change. Sometimes in the way we expect; sometimes in ways we did not expect. Our homes should reflect those changes.