World Kindness Day is Wednesday, November 13th. Since my son was born, I have tried to make kindness the norm in our household. Not so much something we do- but who we are. While I hope that as he grows he takes time out of his day every day to be kind, I also thought this would be a perfect way and day to demonstrate random acts of kindness throughout our community. For the sake of this post (and my sanity), we decided to take a day and celebrate early. We had been without power for 30 hours just a week ago and I thought of things we could do to get out of the house when the idea of spreading some acts of kindness popped into my head. One of the best ways I have found to cheer myself up is to spread some joy.
First, we headed to the bank. The ladies that wait on us are always super friendly (Yes, I am one of those dinosaurs that still loves to do her banking in person- or at least the drive-thru.) A couple of them have even taken to remembering that Daniel’s favorite lollipop is the yellow one. (Because he’s a sweet and sour guy like his mom and loves lemon). We had a haul from doing a trunk-or-treat as well as a Halloween Party at our local library. Because he is in the later toddler years I wanted him to have the experience but don’t necessarily want or need all of that candy in our house. What did we do? We packaged it up for the employees at the bank! I was able to easily convince him that his “big people” candy he had gotten we could give to away and they would enjoy more than he would. We talked about how nice it is that they give him a lollipop every time we visit and how it would be kind to do something for them as well.
Our next stop was to our coffee shop! With a recent move both my son and I have faced a big adjustment as we left behind strong connections we had built in our short time together. Our saving grace has been the library. One librarian in particular that runs the preschool storytime has been heaven-sent. My son has put Mr. Tom up on a pedestal and I know he has made this move smoother for us so for that I am grateful. Anyone that works with children doesn’t get enough credit in my book, so we headed to Biggby for a gift card to give to Mr. Tom after storytime to show our gratitude.
After storytime, we needed to do some light grocery shopping, while at the bank I had asked for some quarters and a roll of pennies. For the quarters we left a few dollars worth in the carts at Aldi for the next guest. I have arrived with an empty pocket at Aldi before forgetting their golden quarter rule and was thankful to have a stranger hand me off their cart. We decided it would be a nice gesture to leave some carts locked and loaded and ready to go. Our next stop was Meijer. If you have a little one and you frequent the grocery store you know all about Sandy. We took our roll of pennies and left all but one for the next riders. (Because of course my son needed a ride too.)
I will say my son beamed after each “kindness mission” we went on and I loved seeing his face light up as we shared with his dad our adventures when he returned home from work.
Here are a few more ideas for celebrating and getting your child involved with World Kindness Day:
Write your child’s teacher a letter together letting them know what you appreciate about them!
Return someone’s cart at the store
Hold the door open for someone
Color your neighbor a picture and leave it in their mailbox
Donate clothes or food to the homeless shelter
Send a card or care package to a service member
Volunteer to do a classroom chore
Pick up litter and trash on a walk
Bring someone flowers
This is just a shortlist of a few ideas and ways to celebrate World Kindness Day with your children this year, we would love to see how you participate! Make sure to tag @indymomsblog and/or use the hashtag #indymomsarekindmoms
