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25 Random Acts of Kindness (with Free Printable)
A Saturday morning from six years ago stands out in my memory. It is rare for a single day to do that, especially the older I get. (I wouldn’t be able to tell you what I did the last three Saturdays in a row.)
That morning, my husband and our three kids headed to a home not too far away to do some yard work.
That year, the theme of our church was “Love your neighbor” and each month there was a service project of some kind. That month, it was gardening and yard work for an older couple who also attended the church.
The woman loved her garden and spent a lot of time in it. She had also recently been diagnosed with an advanced stage of cancer and wouldn’t have the time to get her front and back yard in shape before starting chemotherapy.
So, my family and a few others from the church showed up one Saturday morning and she put us to work. We pulled weeds. We mowed the lawn. We helped clean out a shed. And we planted a couple of saplings in her front yard. I remember kneeling down, hands in the soil, putting a small tree into place.
“I’ll be able to look out on that from my window,” she said, “when I’m not well enough to get out among the flowers.”
She passed away within the year and I have not since been by her house. I have not seen whether the saplings rooted down and found life beneath the earth.
But I remember that day, working alongside my children and others, setting our hands to do something for others.
It’s not hard to do random acts of kindness. Much of it is just going about with open eyes, seeing and thinking about what this person might need, what might bring a smile to that person’s face … and then doing it.
And doing random acts of kindness with our kids? That’s exponentially more special. Young kids get excited about the thought of doing something for someone else. They know how much they love receiving gifts and favors, and it thrills them that as young as they are, they can do the same for someone else.
Even teenagers, as cool as they might play it most of the time, understand the value of acts of kindness. And these acts are contagious, too! Once they get started, they don’t want to stop!
The 25 random acts of kindness suggested below are things you can easily do, most of which don’t cost a cent, and many of which you can rope your kids in on.
And here’s the printable you can download and print out.
25 Random Acts of Kindness
- At the grocery line, let someone go in front of you who only has a few items.
- Buy a plant and place it in a pot for a friend.
- Buy coffee for the person behind you in line at the local coffee shop.
- Compliment another parent on how well-behaved their child is.
- Compliment the first person you talk to today.
- Donate old towels or blankets to an animal shelter.
- Find opportunities to give compliments to people you know.
- Learn the names of people you interact with regularly—neighbors, service workers, the local barista—and greet them by name. Greet strangers and smile.
- Leave a box of goodies in your mailbox for your mail carrier.
- Leave a server the biggest tip you can afford.
- Leave quarters at the laundromat.
- Offer to babysit (or kid-sit) for parents you know who could use a night out.
- Offer up free things on Craigslist, OfferUp, or local Freecycle groups.
- Pick up any litter on your street and put it in the trash.
- Place a “positive body image” note in jean pockets at a department store.
- Plan a clean-up party at a beach or park.
- Post inspirational sticky notes around your neighborhood or at a park.
- Purchase extra dog or cat food and take it to an animal shelter.
- Run an errand for a family member who is busy.
- Send a kind or positive text message to five different people right now.
- Surprise a neighbor with freshly baked cookies or treats!
- Take flowers or treats to the nurses’ station at your nearest hospital.
- Take muffins or cookies to your local librarians.
- Write a kind message on your mirror with a dry-erase marker for your children.
- Write a thank-you note to a former teacher who made a difference in your life.
This list was adapted from randomactsofkindness.org
Featured image photo by Faith Giant
From the Mind…or the Heart?
Just as there is a great variety in adults, there are many different kinds of children. There seems to be a marked difference between some children in how they think, act, and react. It is obvious in some that they do things from their heart. This is the little boy who will see another child crying, and offer the child his favorite toy to make him smile, not realizing until later that he no longer has the toy. This kind of child is fully consumed at the moment with the other person, and the fact that they wanted to make that person happy.
Other children are more “mind” oriented—calculating the pros and cons of their actions or requests that they are given. These ones are more often than not, a bit more self centered—not completely selfish, but they do think something through in relation to how it will affect them and their surroundings and even belongings. This is the one who will see another child crying and look around for something else to give, or run to his parent/caretaker to mention the problem.
Some children, though, are very self-focused, to the point that their needs and desires are all they see and consider when making a request or when thinking about their options. They see how something will affect themselves, and only themselves—not anyone else who might also be affected by the action. This is the child who will grab that last piece of pie, although it is his second and he knows that little sister hasn’t had her first yet. This is also the child who, if this tendency is not guided and reshaped, will grow into the adult who will stop at nothing to get their own way and climb to the top, even to the hurt of others. “Me first” is a natural human tendency, yet some seem to have it much stronger than others, even as a child.
Every child needs to feel loved and understood; every child wants that assurance that someone is there completely for him/her and will not neglect them and their needs. How do you help those children who seem to have more of an analytical nature to do things more from the heart? It is great that a child can think something through before acting, but it can become a hindrance if after thinking it through, they back out of something they can or should do because they deem it “not worth it”.
It is vitally important to help a child to see how their decisions and actions affect others. This can be accomplished with a question like, “Honey, did you notice that there was only one piece of pie for each person? You have already had a piece, and little Jenny hasn’t had hers yet.”
Usually a child will understand that, because pretty much every child has an inborn sense of fairness. If they are a stronger character though, they might just say, “I want it anyway.” How do you encourage a child to think more about others than oneself?
I think we have all heard the Golden Rule: treat others the way we would want to be treated. This is an easy concept for even a young child to understand. Bring up the “how would you feel” aspect of it. We can ask, “How would you feel if you came to get your pie and Jenny had already eaten it?”
A question such as this one will appeal to their inborn sense of fairness, and eventually it can grow to become a thing of the heart, where a child automatically puts himself in the other’s shoes before acting or reacting.
I think this is the hope that all parents share: to raise our children to both think and feel—to be solution oriented and yet empathic, to think “outside the box” and yet still be aware of the effects their actions have on others—and to choose to always treat others the way they want to be treated.
The First Day of Preschool – Mother’s Day Contest Entry
The First Day of Preschool
By Sharada
When I was pregnant with my daughter, I would surf the internet for information on babies and children and what to expect from motherhood. I came across an interesting article that explained that the importance of early learning especially for infants and had flash cards for numeracy and reading skills. I was thrilled to come upon this information and started building high hopes and expectations of what I was going to do for my child. I was going to be this super mom, who would do flash cards right from infancy, never use disposable diapers, only feed her organic homemade food and basically be a perfect, flawless parent – creating a perfect, flawless babyhood and childhood for my soon-to-be-born baby.
Enter reality with childbirth and all my high aspirations went flying out of the window. My determination to not use disposable diapers didn’t last more than a few days. I couldn’t remember where the flash cards were, and used that as an excuse to not do them. And although my daughter’s first solid meals were all homemade, I relied on store-bought baby food later. I had settled to what I thought was mediocre parenting.
Then came the biggest and most painful decision of my life; I had to go back to work, leaving my nine-month-old baby at daycare. My ambitions for a perfect motherhood were crushed. What was worse was that those aspirations, dreams, and ambitions lingered in my mind and heart as failures. Although my beautiful daughter was friendly and cheerful and adjusted very quickly to daycare and the kids there, I constantly battled motherhood with feelings of incapacity, inadequacy and failure.
Two years passed and my little girl was ready to join preschool. I was confident that she would have no problems going to a new place and meeting new kids. She was always friendly and excited to see new people and never really showed separation anxiety. On the big day, in her new uniform and school bag and school shoes, her dad and I proudly walked with her to the new school.
When we kissed her and said bye she began to … CRY! We tried telling her about the fun things she would do and the new friends she would make. She calmed down a little but was still clearly upset. I couldn’t believe it and was heartbroken. The teacher asked us to say bye again and leave calmly so we did. As miserable as I was leaving her at daycare, I had a tiny consolation that she wasn’t going through separation anxiety and was happy. Now that she was upset and crying made it all the more difficult and painful for me.
But as I walked out of the gates, something happened. Seeing my daughter cry on her first day of preschool pushed something in me to be strong, not just for her but myself too. I realized this was life. I cannot predict or control everything. I could go to work feeling worried and upset for her, or I could go to work praying for her and feeling proud that my daughter has entered preschool. I could choose to be strong and positive instead of weak and sad.
That one change in thought brought a whole new outlook to my parenting and my view of me as a mother. I might not have had the opportunity to be with her at home fulfilling all those super mom dreams. But I made the most I could with every minute I had with her. I wasn’t able to do flash cards or other great early learning programs, but I managed to read to my baby every night. I taught her colors, numbers, shapes and the alphabet while juggling a full-time job and housework. I might not have taught my child to read by age two but I did imbibe in her an important love for learning. I did not have quantity but I did give her quality.
That day, as I walked out of the gates of that pre-school I realized I was a supermom! I just had to let myself feel it!
P.S. Six months after starting preschool, my daughter is well adjusted and happy!
About Sharada: I am a mother of a three-and-a-half year old girl. I am married to a caring and loving man and live in the UAE. I work as a Teaching Assistant in an American school and I love my job, but I love being a mom the most.
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My Mother’s Love is Priceless – Mother’s Day Contest Entry
My Mother’s Love is Priceless
By Surunda Franklin
Someone special to me is my mother. I am the firstborn of six siblings. My mother told me that she wanted two children and my father wanted four; they both got what they asked for.
When I was eleven years old, I began having excruciating headaches. She took me to see many doctors trying to get me help but no one knew what was wrong with me. Some said, “Maybe it is her eyes,” and others said, “It might be her menstrual cycle beginning.” One doctor suggested seeing a neurologist at Semmes Murphy Clinic. The doctor ran many tests and found nothing.
He told my mother there was one other test he could do but it was life threatening. My mother and father discussed the situation and spoke to a minister. They took his words and had the procedure done.
When the doctor received the results, he told my parents that I had a pituitary tumor and it was mandatory that I have surgery. During the surgery, part of my pituitary had to be removed. The operation went fine; afterward, I had many doctor visits and cobalt radiation treatments.
On one of my doctor visits to remove my stitches, my mother mentioned to the nurse that it looks like she missed a stitch. The nurse told her it was only the scar of healing skin. My mother continued to watch the area on my head and noticed it was not healing and that it was sore to the touch. She immediately took me back to the doctor.
The doctor examined my head and said that a stitch had been left and it was under the skin and need to be removed. A nurse came in and proceeded to remove the stitch. It was so very painful, I could hardly keep still.
My mother held my hand and I squeezed hers. The stitch was out before I knew it.
Months passed and it was time for another checkup. When the doctor was examining my head, he noticed the place where the stitch was had still not healed. Many procedures were done to examine my head. When the doctor got the results back, he told my mother that I would have to have surgery to remove the bone from my head because it had become infected.
My mother came to me and said, “Your father and I love you. It is going to be okay.” I held onto those words as I went through another surgery and the bone on the left side of my forehead was removed. A metal plate was put in place of the missing bone. It was defected and not long afterward, I had to have surgery again.
Through these frightening and life-threatening issues, my mother was with me every day. She told me many times, “I love you and I will not leave you.”
After going through many surgeries and treatments, I am alive today thanks to GOD and my mother loving me and determining to keep me alive. That is why my mother’s love is priceless.
About Surunda Franklin: I am a devoted homemaker with four beautiful stepchildren and a great husband. I live in Jackson, TN, and have lived here all my life. I am five feet, with light brown skin, and long black hair. I got married for the first time in February of 2013 and I am enjoying life.
[Like this story on our Facebook page to help the author win Positive Parenting’s Mother’s Day Writing Contest! (You’re welcome to “like” it here too! :)]
For the Eyes of a Child
The winter day dawned gray and cold. The wind only added a chill to the cheerless landscape.
I needed to feed the birds in the patio birdcages and give them fresh water, a task I hoped to accomplish as quickly as possible, so that I could retreat into the comfort of the warm house.
My son Aiden had other thoughts. He followed me, babbling away about the birds, the garden—which I thought looked rather forlorn sleeping under its cloak of winter grey.
“Swing, Mommy?” My two-year-old looked at me with anticipation.
“It’s cold, Aiden. Mommy wants to go inside.”
Either he didn’t hear me or he didn’t take that as a “no”. He meandered toward the swing seat situated against the backyard fence. I followed him, pulling my sweater more tightly around me.
As I sat down, he clambered on top of my lap and sat in silence. At least his presence served as a natural heater. He was so quite that I thought for a moment that he was going to fall asleep.
“Mommy,” he suddenly broke the silence, “the trees giving loves.”
I wasn’t sure what he meant. I looked at the trees from the porch swing where we were sitting. I didn’t notice anything spectacular. Most of them stood starkly, lacking leaves and color.
I followed his gaze to two palm trees, growing beyond our house, reaching high toward the sky. Their green fronds contrasted the drab sky. They flittered, almost like fingers waving cheerfully down to us.
“Who are they giving love to?” I asked him.
“Everybodies,” was the instant response.
Where I had seen nothing but a cold and lifeless day, my son had looked up and found life … and love.
Oh, for the eyes of a child.
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