My thoughts on kindness......

I try to teach my kids every day to be kind. I expect them to treat others like they would like to be treated. Return phone calls, be courteous to your friends,include everyone,smile,take turns,share......We try. We don't always succeed.

The other day I am in the car. I am in the parking lot,and I see a pedestrian coming. Of course I wait. Now I am not joking, They stop in the middle of the road and take their sweet time,glaring at me the whole way. I stopped!!!! Now the rude girl in me has to point out,they were fat,ugly(inside and out),and looking for trouble. I would have to assume their life is not working out for them too well.

A friend of mine posted that their daughter was told in the middle of class,"You have big thighs,No Offense!!!" At age 14 how do you not take offense? What a puke!!Obviously, this girl has not been taught a thing. But, she is in society leaving a trail behind her.

I was in Michael's at Christmas time. Kyler was with me. We were in line.This lady was giving us the stink eye.I did not know her,how could she be angry at me? Kyler was in arms reach. I still did not understand. Right when she checked out she whispered something in my son's ear. She took me off guard. By the time I found out what she had said, she was gone. That old mean bat flew out of that store so fast!!!By the way she told Kyler,"Little boys need to keep their hands in their pockets, and if he was not careful he was going to break something."

My favorite story happened last year. We had a friend that stayed with us for 2 weeks. Their house had not closed yet, and out of the goodness of my heart, I said she could "live" with us for that time. They lived 20 miles away, so this really helped them out in the mornings,especially since they had to backtrack back to work. It went well. As far as I thought. They moved into their house and all was well. Brie'el comes home from school MAD. Apparently this girl tells everyone she was forced to be here. She had a horrible time. Did I ever tell her she could not go home? Did anyone ever say thank you for anything?The answer is no.

In this situation, I called the mother. As you may have already guessed. She denied everything. Kindness is never questioned. When something good is happening, no one ever assumes it is bad. Funny thing,when someone is being inconsiderate and they are trying to hide it, usually(not always)they will tell you they were misunderstood.

I have 3 teen-agers in my house growing up. It is my job to "call their bluff" when they are being mean. Kind of like a swearing jar, I have my kids tell me when I am unkind. Checks and balances I suppose.

When my kids are having trouble or I am having a hard time "clicking" with someone.......I am going to remember to KILL THEM WITH KINDNESS. It works 9 times out of 10!!!!!