Kindness Matters

​We tell our children that kindness matters, but how do we tell them that kindness matters? With words or do your actions tell the true story?

When I was growing up,  the parenting model so many times was "Do as I say, not as I do." Fortunately my parents didn't subscribe to that type of parenting.  My parents showed kindness, modeled kindness for the rest of us to emulate.  How did my father show kindness?  A great example was my dad coming home from working all day and before sitting down to dinner, he would go next door to the single mom with 3 small children and mow her lawn.  He did this for years.  Not once…. but many times over the years. What do think that taught us kids?  He taught us to take care of others by his actions.  We knew he would take care of his family, so that was not ever questioned, but he consistently showed us how to care for others.  That mom could have mowed the yard herself, but having 3 children himself, he also knew how tired she would be, so he chose to do it for her.  She didn't have a stay at home spouse to help take care of the home front to make sure all ran smoothly.  He chose to act!

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