The Summer of Kindness
Our family has embraced the ideas of Doing Good Together for three full months. Each week we try to adopt a Kitchen Table Activity. Or we seek out opportunities to get involved in our Community. On some of the busier weeks, we have simply utilized DGT’s recommended resources and even discovered a few of our own.
Today, the first day of school for Miss Kindergarten, feels like a good time to pause and reflect on how this intentional summer of kindness has affected our family.
Initiative is the most obvious change in both Miss K and Little Miss Two. Even beyond the projects I select for, giving has become a routine for them, whether it is a card to cheer up a neighbor or a bag of garden veggies to brighten the doorstep of a random house near the park. I am caught off guard some days when my agenda is sidetracked in favor of a two-year-old who wants to make a project for “the other kids” which is how she refers to the families at People Serving People.
That the girls now ask to do many of DGT’s simpler activities, or invent their own versions of them, is a testament to the another big change I’ve noticed. The simple things that fill our days are now full of meaning.
We don’t just harvest from our garden, we feed our community (on a very micro level) by setting some aside for the food shelf.
Coloring is not just a way to pass time while mom makes dinner, it is an act of hope that whoever receives it feels a bit happier for a while. When we hand delivered some art along with Meals-on-Wheels last week, the girls were able to see that hope realized. They received all kinds of compliments and smiles. And our art table has been busier than ever.
I have also noticed a growing sense of empathy in both kids. We have spent so much time talking about our own emotions and the emotions of others. Wondering about how we might feel in different situations. Reading about how others feel. As a result, their empathy muscles are stronger.
Seriously. I see it on the play ground when Miss K seeks out the little boy swinging by himself and offers to be his friend. Or when Little Miss Two throws sand, realizes she made another child sad, and runs crying to me shouting “I’m so so sorry I hurt that kid.” Lately, my discipline technique is often as simple as pointing out how their actions have affected other people (mostly each other). They seem genuinely sorry and ready to talk about how they could approach the situation differently next time (i.e. ask for the horse, don’t just take it from your sister… they are kids after all).
While both girls were caring and sweet before our involvement in DGT, they are now more intentionally kind. They think about others needs and feelings more than they would have if we hadn’t discovered DGT’s resources, especially their tools for reflection.
These simple changes are much more than I expected at the start of the summer. Developing this habit of family volunteering has fed a “habit” of kindness. We will definitely be keeping up the good works!
Tags: Improving Lives, Strengthening Our Family
