260: I opened a door for a lady with her hands full today. She was a bit distracted with her three children, but she said thank you and looked grateful.
261: I baked cookies and gave them out to some people on the bus. This sounds weird, but they're people we see all the time and are familiar with. I also gave some to the bus driver.
262: I volunteered for a field trip for J's class today.
263: I went to J's school open house and introduced myself to the new principal. I offered to do volunteer work for the school (as well as the classroom) if she needed it. She was thankful and very nice.
264: I moved seats on the bus to accommodate and elderly gentleman. He didn't need to sit at the front, but he was having a harder time getting around than us, and I had a toddler and two backpacks. I let him have the priority seating.
Friday 27 September 2013
Sunday 22 September 2013
Kindnesses 257-259
257: I went to pick up my police check today so I can volunteer for the school trip next week. I'm chalking it up to one for the kids, because if there aren't enough parent volunteers, they can't have the trips.
258: E's birthday party was today. I have baked enough in this lifetime that usually it works out, but for reasons beyond my control (the wrong flour and then the wrong mixer) I ended up with two inedible cakes. Well, not inedible but definitely not birthday-party worthy. So my kindness today was to buy a cake for the party. This was for E, who loved the novelty of a chocolate cake with orange flowers but also for the attendees of the party, who weren't forced to eat my sub-par attempts at cake.
259: I took the kids to the park today and there was a lady with her young girl sharing cracker crumbs with the ducks. I heard her say they'd have to bring bread next time and I offered to grab her some from our car. A couple weeks ago we tried to go duck-feeding, but it didn't work out so the bread's been sitting there, not fit for human consumption but okay for begging birds. The lady and her daughter were very happy to have bread to give to the ducks.
258: E's birthday party was today. I have baked enough in this lifetime that usually it works out, but for reasons beyond my control (the wrong flour and then the wrong mixer) I ended up with two inedible cakes. Well, not inedible but definitely not birthday-party worthy. So my kindness today was to buy a cake for the party. This was for E, who loved the novelty of a chocolate cake with orange flowers but also for the attendees of the party, who weren't forced to eat my sub-par attempts at cake.
259: I took the kids to the park today and there was a lady with her young girl sharing cracker crumbs with the ducks. I heard her say they'd have to bring bread next time and I offered to grab her some from our car. A couple weeks ago we tried to go duck-feeding, but it didn't work out so the bread's been sitting there, not fit for human consumption but okay for begging birds. The lady and her daughter were very happy to have bread to give to the ducks.
Kindnesses 253-256
253: I donated beans to the food drive at the grocery store. They are healthy and tasty, and bast of all, they were on sale. Hey, I do what I can afford.
254: I gave one of J's jackets to my neighbour for her son. He's smaller than J so it will fit him. It was brand new, and a nice black denim. Unfortunately, J outgrew it before he had the chance to wear it.
255: I went to the dentist and became very angry. He filled a cavity last year and basically told me that he knew that wasn't the proper treatment at the time. So he said I would have to pay another insane amount of money for a root canal, or have my tooth extracted. I believe I was the logical one in all this, because I thought it would make more sense to just have the root canal last year (when he knew it had to be done) and not have to pay twice and suffer a year with a bad tooth. However, my good deed today was not using obscenities and maintaining my polite demeanor while I told them I was getting a new dentist. Hey, that was all I was capable of.
256: Before my nightmare appointment (see above) I found out that J has been bullied at school this week. That didn't put me in a very good mood, and today I made a follow-up call to see how J was doing because he was so stressed out about it. I had to get a call-back from the teacher, and I made sure to tell her I was happy with the way she was doing things, but I was simply worried about J's anxiety level. I made it very clear I wasn't trying to go above her head by talking to the office. So my kindness today was to avoid a potential miscommunication and create good rapport with J's teacher for the rest of the school year.
254: I gave one of J's jackets to my neighbour for her son. He's smaller than J so it will fit him. It was brand new, and a nice black denim. Unfortunately, J outgrew it before he had the chance to wear it.
255: I went to the dentist and became very angry. He filled a cavity last year and basically told me that he knew that wasn't the proper treatment at the time. So he said I would have to pay another insane amount of money for a root canal, or have my tooth extracted. I believe I was the logical one in all this, because I thought it would make more sense to just have the root canal last year (when he knew it had to be done) and not have to pay twice and suffer a year with a bad tooth. However, my good deed today was not using obscenities and maintaining my polite demeanor while I told them I was getting a new dentist. Hey, that was all I was capable of.
256: Before my nightmare appointment (see above) I found out that J has been bullied at school this week. That didn't put me in a very good mood, and today I made a follow-up call to see how J was doing because he was so stressed out about it. I had to get a call-back from the teacher, and I made sure to tell her I was happy with the way she was doing things, but I was simply worried about J's anxiety level. I made it very clear I wasn't trying to go above her head by talking to the office. So my kindness today was to avoid a potential miscommunication and create good rapport with J's teacher for the rest of the school year.
Sunday 15 September 2013
Kindnesses 247-252
247: I let my neighbour borrow my bus passes today when her son wouldn't get on the school bus. He was having trouble adjusting to school every day and refused to go with the other children. She managed to take him on the city bus, and I managed to save her the bus fare.
248: I gave some homemade granola bars to my next door neighbour and her boyfriend. They weren't really granola bars, but a variation on a brownie recipe that I made healthy enough to double as a breakfast bar. Too delicious to keep them all to myself.
249: I skipped my sacred book club to look after J's friend overnight. If I hadn't done it, he probably would have stayed with his grandparents out of town and had to miss school. Unfortunately, no one attended the book club and the girl hosting it was so disappointed that she told me she's not going to be part of it anymore.
250: I was very upset about my friend opting out of book club. I haven't known her long, but I really admire her and was very glad she was part of the group. I sent her an email telling her this, hoping she would change her mind or at least keep in touch. I haven't heard back from her yet, but I tried.
251: I put some canned soup into the local donation bin today.
252: I donated $2 to a charity that helps local kids join sports teams. I got a bouncy ball out of it, but that's not what I did it for. It's hard to pay a monthly membership that allows my children to join sports and swimming groups, but we manage to do it. I wanted to help the parents and kids who can't afford it.
248: I gave some homemade granola bars to my next door neighbour and her boyfriend. They weren't really granola bars, but a variation on a brownie recipe that I made healthy enough to double as a breakfast bar. Too delicious to keep them all to myself.
249: I skipped my sacred book club to look after J's friend overnight. If I hadn't done it, he probably would have stayed with his grandparents out of town and had to miss school. Unfortunately, no one attended the book club and the girl hosting it was so disappointed that she told me she's not going to be part of it anymore.
250: I was very upset about my friend opting out of book club. I haven't known her long, but I really admire her and was very glad she was part of the group. I sent her an email telling her this, hoping she would change her mind or at least keep in touch. I haven't heard back from her yet, but I tried.
251: I put some canned soup into the local donation bin today.
252: I donated $2 to a charity that helps local kids join sports teams. I got a bouncy ball out of it, but that's not what I did it for. It's hard to pay a monthly membership that allows my children to join sports and swimming groups, but we manage to do it. I wanted to help the parents and kids who can't afford it.
Tuesday 10 September 2013
Kindnesses 244-246
244: I spoke to my regular cashier at the grocery store. Yes, I go on the day she always works and I will wait in a long line just so we have her as our cashier. She's always very nice to the kids and knows us by name. I had an old coffee card with some money on it to give to her, just to let her know I appreciate customer service people who go above and beyond. It definitely makes groceries much easier to be served by someone nice whom the kids like, and anything that makes grocery shopping easier should be rewarded.
245: I took E to the park today and was talking to another mom. I told her I liked her shirt. She genuinely appreciated the compliment. Compliments are such an easy way to make someone feel better, and so often overlooked.
246: J got off the bus with a nosebleed yesterday and since he recently had surgery on his nose, I'm afraid I wasn't as nice about it as I could have been to the bus driver. I know it wasn't his fault and I don't generally act like a crazy, overprotective mother, so I apologized to him and gave him the medical update. J is fine, he just needs some extra supervision. He had a slight concussion. My apology and explanation were my kindnesses, because these are overlooked as often as compliments. I make sure if I'm wrong, I always apologize and explain.
245: I took E to the park today and was talking to another mom. I told her I liked her shirt. She genuinely appreciated the compliment. Compliments are such an easy way to make someone feel better, and so often overlooked.
246: J got off the bus with a nosebleed yesterday and since he recently had surgery on his nose, I'm afraid I wasn't as nice about it as I could have been to the bus driver. I know it wasn't his fault and I don't generally act like a crazy, overprotective mother, so I apologized to him and gave him the medical update. J is fine, he just needs some extra supervision. He had a slight concussion. My apology and explanation were my kindnesses, because these are overlooked as often as compliments. I make sure if I'm wrong, I always apologize and explain.
Friday 6 September 2013
Kindnesses 238-243
Here's my last week worth of kindensses:
238: I put some healthy food into the food drive bin while I was doing groceries. We are on a pretty tight grocery budget but I was passing the bin and questioned how much we need tomato soup and spaghetti noodles, compared to someone without a food budget. We managed the week fine without the soup and noodles, by the way.
239: Day before First Day of school, so I spent my afternoon baking special, healthy snacks for J to take in his lunch.
240: First day of school, so I sent in cookies for J's class. Not a lot though, because I'm sure the kids were excited enough about school and didn't need a lot of extra sugar. I also sent a note to his teacher to volunteer for helping in class sometimes.
241: I donated some of E's old clothes to charity. I suppose charity is used to donations though, because no one made a big deal of it. I am sincerely hoping the people who receive the clothes appreciate though. That's what I'm counting on at least.
242: E and I were very sick today. I received a kindness from my friend, inviting us to go to the park with her and her little boy but I was feeling too rough. Instead, she took E to the park to give me a couple hours off. That was nice and it proves (to me at least) that karma is out there. My kindness was later, while we went to the doctor. I picked up coffee and left a tip for the coffee girl.
243: Garbage day. Of course I brought in several bins for people.
238: I put some healthy food into the food drive bin while I was doing groceries. We are on a pretty tight grocery budget but I was passing the bin and questioned how much we need tomato soup and spaghetti noodles, compared to someone without a food budget. We managed the week fine without the soup and noodles, by the way.
239: Day before First Day of school, so I spent my afternoon baking special, healthy snacks for J to take in his lunch.
240: First day of school, so I sent in cookies for J's class. Not a lot though, because I'm sure the kids were excited enough about school and didn't need a lot of extra sugar. I also sent a note to his teacher to volunteer for helping in class sometimes.
241: I donated some of E's old clothes to charity. I suppose charity is used to donations though, because no one made a big deal of it. I am sincerely hoping the people who receive the clothes appreciate though. That's what I'm counting on at least.
242: E and I were very sick today. I received a kindness from my friend, inviting us to go to the park with her and her little boy but I was feeling too rough. Instead, she took E to the park to give me a couple hours off. That was nice and it proves (to me at least) that karma is out there. My kindness was later, while we went to the doctor. I picked up coffee and left a tip for the coffee girl.
243: Garbage day. Of course I brought in several bins for people.
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