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Covered in This Video:
- What we get when we give
- Why kindness makes us healthy and happy
- Broaden children’s “giving vocabularies”
This Week’s Practice
Practice Kindness!
- At dinner this week, brainstorm lots of different ways that you and your kids can be kind in your everyday lives.
- Have each person pick one thing they are going to do the next day.
- Report back at the next day! Where you able to do it? How did it feel? What will you do tomorrow? Did someone do something unexpected and kind for you?
Join the Discussion
What suggestions for kind acts do you have for other families?
Suggested Reading This Week
Raising Happiness, pp. 30-36.
Weekly Thought
Nothing can make our life, or the lives of other people, more beautiful than perpetual kindness.” –Leo Tolstoy
What a nice video. Nothing is nicer than kindness indeed. I think kindness is in the heart of everything and the most valuable character for human beings.
Yes, I agree that kindness is the foundation of all meaning and happiness in life.
We have a lot of elderly neighbors. My kids and I often make them some holiday decorations, bring them a few cookies we have made, or bring them some flowers from our garden. These are all small things but they build community on our block and we have fun doing them.
I love the idea of making holiday decorations for elderly neighbors!
We already talk about our “3 Good Things” at dinner time or before bed, a practice suggested during the Winter Class. That is a good time for us to also talk about an act of kindness during the day.
Definitely. Or maybe do one during dinner, and one at bedtime.
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Whoops! I posted to soon. As I was saying, this video came at a very opportune time in my families life. We have a dear friend and neighbor who has recently been given a terminal cancer diagnosis and is in the process of dying. She and my two sons are very close and she gets a lot of comfort from being around them. She is a brilliant woman and has come up with ways to help them understand her impending death. My son Ezra who is 4 has been visiting with me each day and checking her breathing. Yesterday we blew up balloons together to see if she is breathing. Today we blew little fuzz balls from plastic straws. On our way home he said “mom I love aunty Moe, it feels good to check on her breathing”. He has committed himself to visiting each day with out any push from myself or my husband. It is a reciprocal relationship and I can tell he gets good feelings from the visits. It has been quite touching to watch and this video helped me put even more context around what we are doing with our visits. Thank you! Happy Thanks Giving!
What a WONDERFUL story — sad, but also clearly what makes life worth living. I’m so glad your son has the chance to participate and contribute. He’ll never forget it, and it is giving him such a sense of meaning, I’m sure. Thank you for sharing, Caitlin!
Whoops! I posted to soon. As I was saying, this video came at a very opportune time in my families life. We have a dear friend and neighbor who has recently been given a terminal cancer diagnosis and is in the process of dying. She and my two sons are very close and she gets a lot of comfort from being around them. She is a brilliant woman and has come up with ways to help them understand her impending death. My son Ezra who is 4 has been visiting with me each day and checking her breathing. Yesterday we blew up balloons together to see if she is breathing. Today we blew little fuzz balls from plastic straws. On our way home he said “mom I love aunty Moe, it feels good to check on her breathing”. He has committed himself to visiting each day with out any push from myself or my husband. It is a reciprocal relationship and I can tell he gets good feelings from the visits. It has been quite touching to watch and this video helped me put even more context around what we are doing with our visits. Thank you! Happy Thanks Giving!
What a WONDERFUL story — sad, but also clearly what makes life worth living. I’m so glad your son has the chance to participate and contribute. He’ll never forget it, and it is giving him such a sense of meaning, I’m sure. Thank you for sharing, Caitlin!