I went out grocery shopping yesterday with the intention of just being very nice to everyone and seeing if I could get an act of kindness in somewhere. There were a couple things I did. An elderly man was looking at the coffee, trying to figure out which one was on sale. He couldn't read the small writing on the prices so I helped him figure out which one was cheapest. It also turned out to be his favourite, which made me happy.
I saw a coffee jar that had the plastic broken on it, so I took it up to the front to pass it in. It wasn't very noticeable, and I didn't want anyone to grab it and take it home without seeing it.There was also a lady who was in line for the cash, and for some reason she put down her basket and left. I took the basket to customer service so it wasn't in the middle of the floor for people to trip over.
As my last kind act, when I was returning the shopping cart there was a man looking for a quarter. He didn't seem to be having any luck finding one, so I gave him my cart (and my quarter). Yesterday was many little acts, but it made me happy.
Monday, 11 February 2013
Saturday, 9 February 2013
Kindnesses 39 and 40
I'm sure many of you had some snow in the last couple of days. I'm not sure what it was like for other parts of Ontario, but here in Peterborough there was over 30 cm of it. Yesterday was a shoveling day. I took the boys out to shovel, but after ten minutes someone came by with a plow on his truck and plowed my driveway for me. I don't know who it was but it was very nice of him.
That left me with two kids playing in the snow and a clear driveway, so we headed across the street to help my friend with her driveway. I got out of my own driveway, so it only made sense to help someone else. It was still snowing though, and we all had to shovel several times after that too, but that was my good deed for yesterday.
Today, my son was invited to a birthday party. The birthday boy's dad was sick so his mom was doing the work for the party. I helped her with the kids and setting up, as well as cleaning up after so she could oversee the gift unwrapping. I also stayed with some of the kids so she could load up her van when it was all done, because their parents hadn't come to pick them up yet. I know how busy a party can get, especially if you're the hosting parent, and I wanted her to enjoy her boy's birthday.
That left me with two kids playing in the snow and a clear driveway, so we headed across the street to help my friend with her driveway. I got out of my own driveway, so it only made sense to help someone else. It was still snowing though, and we all had to shovel several times after that too, but that was my good deed for yesterday.
Today, my son was invited to a birthday party. The birthday boy's dad was sick so his mom was doing the work for the party. I helped her with the kids and setting up, as well as cleaning up after so she could oversee the gift unwrapping. I also stayed with some of the kids so she could load up her van when it was all done, because their parents hadn't come to pick them up yet. I know how busy a party can get, especially if you're the hosting parent, and I wanted her to enjoy her boy's birthday.
Thursday, 7 February 2013
Kindness 37 and 38
Yesterday I went to Tim Hortons again. For those who don't know me, I need at least two coffees per day, more often it's four though. I usually make instant at home but yesterday I got the chance to buy a real one. I donated to Camp Day for Kids again, but since that's redundant and I'm trying to be creative (or at least not too repetitive), I bought the order for the lady in front of me.
I learned my lesson last time about buying the next order in line, because last time I spent almost ten dollars. I know a kindness is a kindness, but I don't have the money to buy everyone sandwiches. So when I saw she was only buying two coffees, I went up and told her she'd really be doing me a favour if she let me buy them for her. She was a bit uncomfortable, until I explained my resolution. She thanked me very much and proceeded to buy some donuts with the money she had saved. Turns out, she had limited funds too and she couldn't get treats for her kids until I paid for her coffee.
Today I went to the resource centre and donated some books. I was selling children's books but it wasn't working out for me. I ordered a bunch of books for demonstration, and many weren't the type my boys are interested in. I took some in for the lending library. They are wonderful books, educational and great quality so they will last a long time. I wasn't using them so I thought maybe a bunch of other kids would benefit.
I learned my lesson last time about buying the next order in line, because last time I spent almost ten dollars. I know a kindness is a kindness, but I don't have the money to buy everyone sandwiches. So when I saw she was only buying two coffees, I went up and told her she'd really be doing me a favour if she let me buy them for her. She was a bit uncomfortable, until I explained my resolution. She thanked me very much and proceeded to buy some donuts with the money she had saved. Turns out, she had limited funds too and she couldn't get treats for her kids until I paid for her coffee.
Today I went to the resource centre and donated some books. I was selling children's books but it wasn't working out for me. I ordered a bunch of books for demonstration, and many weren't the type my boys are interested in. I took some in for the lending library. They are wonderful books, educational and great quality so they will last a long time. I wasn't using them so I thought maybe a bunch of other kids would benefit.
Tuesday, 5 February 2013
Kindness 36
Today I went to the family resource centre with Eddie. At the centre they have coffee that's free, with an option to donate some change if you can. I put in $2 to help the centre out, because all the money goes for programming to help families.
Addendum: Does anyone else think the word "centre" looks ridiculous with Canadian spelling?
Addendum: Does anyone else think the word "centre" looks ridiculous with Canadian spelling?
Monday, 4 February 2013
Kindness 35
While playing outside with the kids on this beautiful and freezing day, I saw that once again the lawns were littered with garbage and recycling. Now part of this is the wind, because we get at least one wind storm every two weeks and it blows garbage and recycling everywhere. Part of it is the fault of inconsiderate people who throw junk on other people's lawns while they're walking. And part of this is the fault of the garbage men themselves. They dump garbage and recycling bins quickly and carelessly, dropping garbage everywhere but in the garbage truck.
I thought it looked pretty gross so I enlisted my kids to help me gather the recycling for the entire length of the street. It was fun and we all had mitts on so we weren't too cold. That was my kindness of the day. I'm sure someone somewhere looked out of a window and saw me doing it, but if not, whatever. It looks much nicer now, whether people know it was me or not.
I thought it looked pretty gross so I enlisted my kids to help me gather the recycling for the entire length of the street. It was fun and we all had mitts on so we weren't too cold. That was my kindness of the day. I'm sure someone somewhere looked out of a window and saw me doing it, but if not, whatever. It looks much nicer now, whether people know it was me or not.
Sunday, 3 February 2013
Kindness 34
I looked all over the place today for someone needing some help or kindness and everywhere there were people opening doors for me and being very polite. Now I'm not complaining (maybe it's karma at work here), but it does make my resolution rather difficult. So in the interest of compromising creativity for kindness, I donated $2 for the Tim Hortons Kids Camp Fund when I bought my coffee. That's it, that's all. How anticlimactic. I don't donate money often though, so it's still outside the box.
Saturday, 2 February 2013
Kindnesses 32 and 33
To maintain accuracy I am changing the titles of my posts to Kindness, not Good Deed. It is still the exact some philosophy, but covers a broader range of things.
Yesterday was one of the easy days. I was at Jimmy's soccer class and there was another woman there with her young boy, watching her son. The younger boy was not a fan of sitting still to watch his brother play soccer. I can relate to boys having trouble with patience and stillness, so I reached into my bag of tricks and gave her some kiddie books to keep him occupied. It worked for about twenty minutes, which is very impressive for a two-year old.
Today I held the door open for a couple with two young children at the coffee shop. That was a smaller act, but considering someone had just let the door slam shut on me, it seemed appropriate. I also baked some extra cookies to give to my neighbours. I figured out the home made bear paw recipe (see my mom blog for the link to that), and make them in bulk, so I'm happy to share.
Yesterday was one of the easy days. I was at Jimmy's soccer class and there was another woman there with her young boy, watching her son. The younger boy was not a fan of sitting still to watch his brother play soccer. I can relate to boys having trouble with patience and stillness, so I reached into my bag of tricks and gave her some kiddie books to keep him occupied. It worked for about twenty minutes, which is very impressive for a two-year old.
Today I held the door open for a couple with two young children at the coffee shop. That was a smaller act, but considering someone had just let the door slam shut on me, it seemed appropriate. I also baked some extra cookies to give to my neighbours. I figured out the home made bear paw recipe (see my mom blog for the link to that), and make them in bulk, so I'm happy to share.
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