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Kindcember

We are working hard on kindness all this month.

‘Tis the season, right? So, our Santa Advent Calendar became a Random Acts of Kindness Generator. There is a new one everyday from December 1st to Christmas Eve.

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Poor Santa. I always think he looks so uncomfortable hanging by his arms.

I’m not even going to pretend that I thought this idea up. A good friend did it last year with her kids, and I thought it was brilliant. Look, parenting is tough stuff, especially if you are constantly trying to reinvent the wheel. And who has time for that? If someone has a good idea, take it, use it, make it your own! And Pinterest is just teeming with fun Advent Calendar ideas to make your season merrier. Since Frisbee the Elf challenged the boys to do good by giving away their old toys, I thought we’d keep the momentum going by filling our calendar with random acts of kindness. Pierre and I took to Google to find acts appropriate for the boys (and let’s face it, manageable for their parents). Here’s what we came up with:

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I cut up the list, placing one a day in our Santa calendar in no particular order. Each morning, Benjamin and Nicholas pull out their act, read it and then have the rest of the day to get it done. So far, they have:
  • Been extra kind to their bus drivers.
  • Called a faraway relative to say hello (on Grandpa’s birthday. That one was not so randomly placed).
  • Held the door open for someone.
  • Tidied their bedrooms.
  • Fed the deer.
  • Played nicely with each other.
  • Picked up their toys without being asked.
Yesterday, the challenge was to tell a silly joke to make someone laugh. No problem there. After reading the slip, Ben immediately ran to his room to find his joke book. Both boys were comedians over breakfast, practicing their jokes on each other. Today, they will be making thank you cards for their teachers.

I am happily surprised by how much how into this task Benjamin and Nicholas are. They rush to the calendar each morning to discover their task of the day. And I feel like maybe (maybe) everyone is being just a little kinder, a little more considerate in our house. Santa, are you watching?

I’m kind of inspired to try this the whole year through. 365 Random Acts of Kindness.  I’m sure it’s been done before. Think it would work? Or should I attribute the success of this endeavor to Christmas spirit? Hmmm….worth thinking about.

xo Naomi

P.S. After posting this, Nicholas tried to make a deal with his brother: He (Nicholas) would watch the movie that Ben wanted IF Ben would do whatever Nicholas wanted for a whole week. Yeah. 

We have more work to do on that kindness thing. 

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