Pay It Forward

In the past 3 months I have had 2 random acts of kindness make a big impact on me.

The first was on Christmas.  As our family was opening our stockings, I received an unexpected gift.  Since I had done 99.99999% of the shopping,  I was pretty confused.

I opened the gift and was surprised with a pretty pair of earrings.  After looking at the return address, I realized it was from my SIL, Kate.  She knew I'd been having a tough and stressful month, and wanted to give me some extra TLC.  Her thoughtfulness went a long, long ways!

The fun note that came with my earrings

Tonight I experienced my second random act of kindness.  After spending most of the day in the ER with my dad, I ran out around 8:30 to grab dinner for my mom and myself.  When I pulled up to the window,  the employee said the car ahead of me had paid for my food.  I was shocked and said, "Are your serious?"  She said yes, and I started crying.  I told her about my day and she got teary.  When I returned to the hospital and told the story, one of the nurses got teary.

It's amazing how relatively easy gestures can go so far.  It's a great reminder for me to be more deliberate in performing random acts of kindness myself.

Spring Break

This year we are juggling three different spring breaks.  The boys have been off this week, Brian is off in one week, and I've got two more weeks until my break.  Not convenient, but we are doing our best.

The boys have had a couple of afternoons home on their own while we are gone and Luke goes to daycare.  Brian and I each took a day off to spend some time with them and do some fun things.

Holly and I met up with our kids for some bowling and laser tag.  It was dead quiet since surrounding districts aren't on break yet, and the kids had a good time.  She snapped this picture of Adam which makes me laugh out loud each time I see it!

Poor child #3....he needs some longer pants!

Karate

About a week ago, Matt had a tough day at school.  He felt like he was being targeted by a bully in his classroom, he felt very angry, and he felt like he didn't have friends.  It was heartbreaking to say the least.  I spent some time talking to his teacher and the guidance counselor at school, both of whom say they see a happy, well-adjusted boy at school, but perhaps he was missing some connections.

As I began thinking more and more about Matt, it really hit me that he doesn't have his "thing".  Yes, he's tried baseball, but didn't love it.  He has trombone, but so does his older brother.  It seemed like at this critical age before middle school he doesn't have the  self-confidence that we would like him to have.

Matt is black and white.  He likes to know exactly what to do.  He likes the people around him to follow the directions.  He prefers to be independent, rather than on a team.  Karate crossed my mind, and as we started to talk about it, Matt's interest grew.

We tried out a free private class, and he really liked it.  A week later, he was participating in his first karate class.  Initially karate seemed kind of hokey to me, but as I watched the class today, I could see this being really good for Matt.  The instructor was great with the kids and really focuses on self-discipline, confidence, goal-setting, self-control and many other characteristics that are critical to being successful in life.

Matt had a smile on his face the whole time and is looking forward to going back soon!