bekind By Kim Turner
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Random Acts of Kindness
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hen we look at old Norman Rockwell pictures of the holidays, we don’t see images of Black Friday store lines or families too busy on their devices to open up their presents. A lot of parents work hard to give their children everything on their holiday lists, but find themselves feeling unappreciated and worried that their kids are headed towards a bad case of affluenza. Last year, the average family racked up over $1,000 in holiday debt and spent six months trying to pay that off. But does that really make their kids feel happy and secure? What we know is that kids, just like their parents, feel happier when they practice gratitude and give back in some way to their schools, neighborhoods, and communities. One mom, Cheri Fogerty, who authored the book, How to Get Happier And More Grateful Children in Just 21 Days, is quoted as saying, “It isn’t being happy that makes us grateful. It’s being grateful that makes us happy.”
So, how do you get your kids to have a more grateful heart if they don’t have one already? You can start by asking them on the way to school or at the dinner table to tell you something good that happened during their day (In my family, we do “apples and onions” at dinner). Model for them by telling them things that you appreciate about them or other people in your life. Those who study the long-term effects of gratitude have found that a daily or even weekly practice of gratitude can help with a variety of positive outcomes including overall happiness. In order to get your kids’ empathy and gratitude “muscles” opportunities to flex, they need to put their gratitude in action. Doing for others helps kids to get out of their heads and life circumstances and focus on the external world and others’ experiences. Gratitude in action could be helping a neighbor, collecting for a cause or doing organized volunteer work. It can be small or large – all that is required is that they are doing something for someone else.
The Kindness Club
Here are some example of local families and their holiday volunteer/ gratitude in action projects. You can borrow one of their traditions or create a family holiday tradition of your own.
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onnie and Beth Holliday have been doing a Holiday advent calendar for several years. Their family performs Random Acts of Christmas Kindness each day of December leading up to Christmas. The acts don’t have to be big things or cost much (in some cases any) money. They just have to be something that you do for someone else. Some examples include bringing treats for the custodians at their girls’ school, hiding dollar bills in the toy aisle of the Dollar Store, and filling a little free library or pantry. Beth says, “To see your children get excited about blessing others and being generous to them is priceless! Let these serve as the beginning of the brainstorming. Be inventive, be creative, and above all, be kind.” She got her ideas from http://pitterpatterart.com/ kindness-advent/ but there are many versions on Pinterest.
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The Athens Academy Preschool Kindness Club was started two years ago by K4 teacher Judy Fox to spread a little kindness and cheer. Here, along with faculty advisers Judy Fox and DeDe Guest, they visit their friends at Morningside of Athens Assisted Living Facility for a little trick or treating fun! 10 Athens-Oconee Parent
anet Fielding, a Kindergarten teacher at Chase Street Elementary, and her husband Andy began volunteering with her son, J.S., now 24, at a young age. The Fielding family would participate in Thanksgiving day meal preparation and serve at shelters or churches. In addition, they had J.S. shop and buy Christmas gifts for people who may not be able to have a happy holiday otherwise. J.S., now an adult, shops and donates on his own as well as coming back to Chase yearly to play Santa’s elf to help the kids experience a little bit of Christmas magic!