Whatever Wednesday: Recipe for Kindness

It's a beautiful thing when you can see life through a child's eye.  I want to help you do that today.  A few months ago my son's teacher (Way to go, Mrs. Wilburn!  This was a great idea!) sent home a flyer asking parents to purchase a book that she and all the kids in the class were making.  The book would feature original art work done by the children.  Sounded like a cute idea, but $15.95 sounded kind of steep.  Eventually, we decided to buy it, figuring it would be a great keepsake. I am so glad we did.  I was pleasantly surprised by the hard cover and glossy pages. 

The theme of the book was Recipe for Kindness and each child drew a picture and wrote a sentence about how they can show kindness.  The little ones wrote things like they can show kindness by helping up a friend when they fall, cleaning up a mess at the side of a road, taking care of our classroom, and hugging a friend when they are sad.  My two personal favorites: making sausage for my mom and making cereal bowls for kids who don't have any. 

My son's recipe for kindness was helping my mommy clean the house (can't wait for that one to start happening lol) and drew this great pic of himself helping me clean ( I'm the red one, pushing a vacuum cleaner).

FYI: I'm not really that skinny and my hair don't look like that ( well, ok, maybe in morning).

All this kind of got me thinking.  Kindness is something we sometimes lack big time.  The older we get the more jaded we get.  I think we all want to be kind people, I think we all think we are kind people, but that's not always true. We get so wrapped up in our own lives and our own problems, that kindness sometimes takes a backseat.   We hold grudges, or pass our bad day to others and that starts a vicious cycle of rudeness and animosity. 

Being kind doesn't cost anything except a bit of time. It starts at home and it starts with you.  Next time the cashier at the local Walmart is catching attitude, give her a smile and say thanks...I appreciate you. Next time you see your elderly neighbor lugging her heavy trash can to the road for pick up, get off your cell phone for a second and help her out.  I'm such a big believer in "the little things" and it's the little things that can make a big difference in someones day.  

And most importantly, kids learn by example.  They are the greatest mimickers of all time.  Give them something worth while to copy cat. Start a new cycle, pay it forward has to start somewhere, let it start with you.

Ok...I'm getting down from my soapbox now.

Whatever Wednesday: The Giving Tree

As a child, books were a huge part of my life.  My mother was always an avid reader, and she passed that passion on to me by reading the wonderful stories she would find on our many trips to the local library.

One of the hundred things I love about books is how timeless they are.  TV shows and movies come and go, but books are truly forever.  It gives me such a joy to read books to my kids that my mom read to me over 30 years ago.

Last week, our area mall had a tribute to Cat in the Hat who turned 50.  Dr. Suess was always a big favorite of mine; Fox in Socks, Horton Hears a Hoo, Mr. Elligot's Pool, One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, and of course Green Eggs and Ham.  It just wouldn't be Christmas if I didn't watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas at least twice.

Last weekend, our area mall had a tribute to Cat in the Hat day.  It was so much fun.  Local celebrities read book after to book to the children sitting in a semi circle around them and then afterwards, the kiddies had thier picture taken with the "real" Cat in the Hat.  I have a post in the work about this at a later time.

During our story hour, the reader, 36 newscaster Tom Kenny, read a story to the kids that all my years of reading and listening I had never come across. 

It was a story called The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein.  It's a beautiful story that I think not only will your kids enjoy, but you will enjoy reading to them.   It's as story told throughout the life a little boy and an apple tree that he befriends.  The tree selflessly gives all it has to give to this boy who travels through manhood and eventually old age in the book.  The tree's only goal is to make the boy happy and gives of itself to do just that.  It's a story of unconditional love, friendship, giving, taking and no matter what you walk away with after you read this book, the story will stay with you. For me it was a good teaching tool for my children, teaching the value of friendship, the pitfalls of being selfish, the beauty of giving and sharing. 

Add this to your reading list.  You won't be disappointed.