Earlier today my kids spotted a dime on the floor at the exact same time. This almost never happens. My daughter is dreamy like me and tends to have her head in the clouds. She doesn’t always see what’s right in front of her because she’s busy thinking – dreaming big dreams. My son, like his dad, is a details kind of guy. He likes numbers, facts and lively conversations about numbers and facts. And history – oh how they love history. He’s the champion coin finder in the family because even when he gets lost in thought, he has an incredible ability to remain partially grounded in the here and now. He always sees the coins.
I walked down the stairs to find them deep in conversation about how to handle the coin situation. Numbers guy thought trading it in for two nickels made the most sense. But the dreamer wasn’t so sure. She liked the feel of the dime as she rolled it between her fingers, and that sent her spinning into her thought clouds.
I kept a safe distance, eager to see how the story might end. It wasn’t long before they crafted the perfect solution.
I should back up a bit. In late August, they came running to me with huge smiles and sparkling eyes. “We have a great idea!” they shouted. “We want to match a family with kids exactly our ages this time because we know so many things they will like!” At holiday time, our church organizes a family-to-family giving program. You can sponsor a family (or two or three…) to help with a Thanksgiving dinner and some gifts under the tree. My kids had so much fun choosing gifts last year that they haven’t stopped thinking about it. Truly, the whole experience was heartwarming on many levels.
This year, my kids seem to want to take the lead. They talk about saving money of their own to contribute. They’ve created gift lists and edited them over and over again. The experience of helping another family left them so full of gratitude that they just can’t wait to do it again.
“Do we have our family YET?” they ask, every few days (and then some).
I sat quietly, watching them whisper. They were hatching a plan, that much I knew. We’ll donate it. Can we donate it? Can we donate one coin? I heard bits and pieces as I waited for them to come to a final decision. This coin, as it turns out, started a movement in our little family. The excitement mounted as they discussed the possibility of putting all loose change and found coins into a a jar to save for a family in need this holiday season. No longer would they depend on me to buy the gifts – they were making a difference. Moments later a jar appeared and the loose change left behind this morning was thrown right into it. They were on their way to spreading kindness, one small coin at a time.
Don’t wait for November!
Come November we will be flooded with information about raising grateful kids and projects to get the gratitude going. People will slow down just a little and remember to give thanks and the world will feel just a little bit more friendly. Kindness will take center stage as we roll into the winter holiday season.
But what if lessons in gratitude were taught all year long? What if acts of kindness, big and small, were simply part of the backdrop? What if we didn’t wait?
We all know that helping others is a great way to help kids slow down and think about gratitude. But sometimes kids feel powerless. It’s hard to know where to begin, how to spread kindness, when you don’t have much control over your own life. Kids can make a difference. Through small acts of kindness, kids can spread gratitude and happiness to others – they can be change makers.
Try a few of these kid friendly acts of kindness:
- Collect coins to donate to someone or a charity in need.
- Save the proceeds of a lemonade stand to donate.
- Help weed a garden or rake leaves for an elderly neighbor.
- Bake something for a neighbor or relative who is ill.
- Make cards to cheer up kids in a local children’s hospital.
When kids realize that they have the ability to make a difference on their own, they become change makers. They tap into empathy a little bit more and stop to think about the wellbeing of others.
Don’t wait until November to start teaching gratitude this year. Engage in deliberate acts of kindness, big and small, as much as possible and talk about how spreading kindness makes the world a happier, and more grateful, place to live.
If you choose to join my kids and coin it forward to someone in need (or if you have another great family community service project going), please stop by the Facebook page and tell us all about it!