Random Acts of Kindness - Day 1

For the 24 days leading up to Christmas the kids and I are performing random acts of kindness. I feel like too often we are bogged down in our own stuff, battling the demons from the past and just trying to keep our heads above water. I'm hoping this endeavor will help us get out of our own heads. And, I am hoping it will teach my kids some empathy and that kindness for kindness' sake is valuable for the good feelings it gives us and the good will it spreads to others. It might be an uphill battle for the moment.

When I explained to the kids our game plan for this morning, Chica Marie made a face. "Wait, what?" "We are going to pay for the movie for the people behind us in line." I explained again. We were going to see The Polar Express at the theatre in town. It was only $1 to see the movie, so we wouldn't be shelling out a lot of cash (the point of the random acts of kindness is not to spend a lot of money but to spread good will). Chica Marie just couldn't understand that we would be paying for people we didn't know. She likened it to the story she heard at school, one good turn deserves another. Her rendition of the story was that the mouse helped the snake get free after being trapped but once free the snake wanted to eat the mouse but let him go because the mouse did him a favor letting him go. I explained to her our random acts of kindness were not just for people who were nice or kind to us, but to random strangers we don't know. I said, sometimes it's the people who are not nice to us who need our kindness. "It might not be easy, but kindness makes our world a better place."

When we got to the theatre there was another lone mom with three kids was behind us. I thought she might be the one we ended up paying for, but that isn't what happened. Instead, there were two windows open and since it took me a little time to have the clerk understand what I was asking for ("So you want to pay for extra tickets you won't use?") so the mom and three kids bought their tickets and moved on. I'm not even sure who got the 4 tickets we paid for. So, it seems, today's lesson is for me. Things don't go as planned and I shouldn't need to see my good will in action so I can feel good about myself.

I plan on documenting our next 23 days and hope this will help teach us all to look for ways to be kind. Getting stuck in traffic on our way out of town after the movie proved I have a lot to improve to put my money where my mouth is in kindness!