Our Bowl Of Family Kindness

One of the things I promised myself this year, a resolution of sorts, was to NOT allow anyone steal my joy. You know those “anyones” I’m talking about, the people that always try to rain on your parade. I’m staying away from their storm clouds…I’m staying away from the negative. Also, I am going to try to spread as much joy to others as I can; be quick with a compliment, words of support, a kind gesture…whatever it is that puts a smile on someone’s face.

So far it is going pretty well and has made me feel much happier going into this New Year. As much as possible I try involve my children in the ways in which I’m spreading kindness to others and I’m encouraging them to do the same. It got me thinking though…kindness starts at home within your own family. Due to all of this snow this year the kids have been home from school a lot more than usual so, of course, there’s been bickering and disagreements while they have been cooped up inside the house.

Bowl of Family Kindness

I came up with a little something to encourage them to be kind and helpful toward one another called “Our Bowl of Family Kindness”.  I went to Michael’s and purchased a large bowl and some family related stickers that I found in the scrapbooking section. We had a lot of fun decorating the bowl together and the kids were excited to start our new kindness incentive program. Here’s how it works;

• Each child has their own separate colored sticky note.
• When they do something kind or helpful (without being asked to) they write it down on their sticky note and put it into the bowl.
• At the end of each week we read the notes and then count them. (This is my favorite part! They read each others notes and say thank you to each other again)
• We came up with a goal of 100 notes. Each time we reach that goal we will do something special as a family…a movie, go bowling, a trip into the City, etc.

We are working toward our first 100 notes and, I have to say, I have noticed a lot less conflict and a lot more affection. Don’t get me wrong, they are wonderful kids and I’m so proud of them. I just really want them to see that the kindness and caring that they show within our own family is just as important as the kindness we show to others outside of our home. I’ll let you know how it goes!