This post was written by guest blogger and Random Act of Kindness doer Chrissy Delacy.
As moms we hope that we are raising our children to be kind and generous humans. We see tragic and seemingly evil things all over social media and the news and genuinely hope we are helping these small humans become great and kind members of society. So why not lead by example?
Shortly after I finished reading about the tragedy that struck Orlando I was impacted by some terribly unkind and hurtful comments and actions in my personal life, and decided that I was going to live out a quote that has lived in my heart for years.
“When you have a bad day, a really bad day, try and treat the world better than it treated you.”
With this in mind I made a quick printable (stay tuned for a copy!), grabbed a few supplies, packed up my kid, and headed out the door to run errands with the mission of spreading kindness and being intentional while showing my surly teen what it feels like to be kind and show up for people with no expectation of it being returned or acknowledged.
Our first stop was Starbucks. This momma is a bit lazy so the drive through it was. We waited in line, ordered our drinks and proceeded to the window to make our purchase. I have been part of a “kindness train” at Starbucks so I knew the barista would know what I was talking about and would be totally excited as well. I handed over my credit card and an extra $3.24 later we had set the stage for what I hope was a morning full of happiness for that sweet gal behind us.
Next, we made our way to the grocery store. Remember those supplies? Well, I made sure to pull a few sleeves of microwaveable popcorn out of our most recently purchased box. We slapped a bit of tape and a kind note to it and pasted them to the Redbox machine outside of our grocery store.
Grocery shopping commenced and on the way to the check out stand I reached for a bouquet of carnations. My very favorite flower. A bit underwhelming for a flower, but they are so pretty and last forever. As we were getting in the car and loading up our groceries, I had my son put the flowers on the windshield of the car next to us. It was also garnished with a kind note. He felt so accomplished completing what felt like a 007 mission! Kindness can be super exhilarating!
A bit out of the way, but necessary for the days festivities, was the Dollar Tree. Have you ever been to a Dollar Tree? That place in itself is magical kindness sent to frugal humans which must instill happiness. However, it also holds TONS of useful items for, you guessed it, $1 ! We grabbed a cart and loaded up on some things we thought would be useful to others. Some of the items from the Dollar Tree were laundry supplies. As a kid I remember having to go to the laundromat with my mom after our hot water heater broke. It was hot, smelly and boring. I am so thankful to be able to do laundry in my own home whenever I want to, but some are not afforded that luxury. Heck, maybe they just had to drag their California King comforter to the industrial sized washing machines. Either way, a free load of laundry and soap can go a long way.
