A lesson in kindness

This December, our family tried something new.

We designed, then followed an Acts of Kindness calendar from December 1st to 24th, acting out one simple thing daily that was kind, caring and thoughtful. The acts were not centered around social justice issues, but chosen to reflect opportunities for our young children to easily make their friends, family and neighbours happier in the month of December.

While we couldn't include everyone in our Acts of Kindness, we did our best to include as many people as we could. Some days were easier to complete than others and some days required all children to participate while on other days only one child had something to check off their list. Buying snacks at school for a friend, delivering artwork to a neighbour and donating food to the school food drive were examples of their daily tasks.

The calendar was hung on our fridge, to remind us of our daily tasks
 

It was my hope that my oldest children - Nolan (7) and Brooklyn (5) would find inspiration in the sensation of making others happy. My youngest, Ethan (2), was along really just along for the ride, but surprised me in his ability to take part and enjoy this new daily ritual.

I thought it would be fun to ask the kids a few questions, to see what they learned. Here are their answers, verbatim:

Question One: Why did we complete Acts of Kindness in December?
N - I don't know.
B - Cause that was a countdown to Christmas.

Question Two: What was your favourite Act of Kindness we completed? Why?
N - Telling jokes to Nana and Nanna. Why? I don't know.
B - Um, giving the movie to Kyleigh because that was a random act of kindness.

Question Three: How did you feel when completing an Act of Kindness?
N - Good.
B - Happy.

Question Four: Can you come up with one new Act of Kindness for next year?
N - We have to do it again next year? Isn't one year enough?
B - Make someone's bed.

Question Five: What did you learn about our family?
N - No, same as always.
B - That we have to work together.

Funny how you can raise your kids the same way, but they grow into entirely different human beings :) The truth is Nolan struggled through most of the tasks. He acted as if it was an inconvenience at times, which admittedly hurt my heart now and again. To his defence, though, Nolan is an incredibly private boy who never wishes to be in the spotlight. Asking him to 'perform' tasks did give him some anxiety, depending on how public it was.

Brooklyn, on the other hand, loved every moment of it. She couldn't wait to hear about our task each day, and was always asking ahead a few days to prepare herself for what was to come. She smiled when talking about it, loved to share stories about the outcomes each day and often found additional ways to 'help others' and 'show kindness'.

It was a fun way to focus on family and giving in December. It was also a waaaay better tool for counting down to Christmas than any overpriced advent calendar on the market. I highly recommend families try it next December and consider taking a 'theme' appropriate and relevant to your family.

Perhaps the results will be mixed, but the experience of working together as a family is entirely worth the effort <3.