New Year's Resolution: Join the Stepstool Revolution!

Something small you can do this week to make this year a better one.

Hello, friends!

Happy New Year! 2026 is upon us! I hope and pray it will be a good one for each of you.

My family is starting 2026 at the tail end of one of those colds or flus or whatever that just seem to last and last and last. We’re mostly better — it took me two weeks! — but you know how these things go.

Speaking of viruses, as we all know, hand-washing is the best defense, yada yada. But what if all the little kids who are going into the public restrooms near you aren’t washing their hands — because they can’t reach the sink?

I would like to propose a solution that you can take care of this very week, both to increase hand-washing in your community (a happy side effect) and more importantly, to make things just a little easier on moms and dads of young children out in the wild. I know not all subscribers are parents, and please don’t feel any pressure to participate, but this really might be a good little game-changer for our communities, and takes almost no time/money/effort at all.

Would you like to be like Miss Rhumphius, and start 2026 by doing one small thing to make the world a better place?

It’s easy! All you have to do is leave a cheap plastic stool from Target or Walmart or Amazon in your favorite church or coffee shop or library restroom, so that young children can easily reach the sink. The worst thing that can happen is that someone else removes it. (You can also ask permission, if you like, but sometimes that is counterproductive for such things…)

Please leave a comment and/or restack to let us know you’re participating! And then let’s see what happens — please report back!