Tag: school

The Kindness Gene – January Kindness Month

The one thing about getting older is the ability to look back and see what kind of person you’ve become. Were we nice as children? Did we play fairly with other children and hardly argued with our parents and siblings? Were we kind to our teachers and school administrators? Did we say thank you and please and truly appreciated the people who helped us? Were all of these behaviors and attitudes learned and taught to us, or was there an inherent gene somewhere in our body that told us to naturally be nice and gracious?

As the saying goes, “nature over nurture”, sometimes I wonder why a person is kind or compassionate to another. I’ve certainly met my share of unkind people in my life and I can guess that they were not treated kindly or fairly in their formative years. For children, the innate ability to see the world as it is also gives them the ability to be less judgmental. But as we grow older and live life through good and bad experiences, our attitudes change and our views of the world and people change as well. But that should not be the excuse to be cruel or hurtful. No one has a perfect life, but our choices truly can define us when we’re older.

January is national Kindness Month and schools around the country are encouraging students, staff, and families to take this month to show some kindness. Would it be so wonderful if people were kind all the time. But alas, we do our best regardless of how people treat us. At my school, we are hosting a Kindness Week in January with each day of the week highlighting and fostering kindness, inclusivity, and compassion. Perhaps you can try doing this at your children’s school or your workplace. There are some great non-profit organizations that help build and spread kindness during Kindness Month as well as year-round. Check out some ideas below to foster kindness in your own home and community!

 

  • The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation ( https://www.randomactsofkindness.org/) – a website full of wonderful, easy, and age-appropriate ideas for kids and adults. I’ve applied a lot of these ideas for school and work and they’re super easy and creative.
  • The Great Kindness Challenge (https://thegreatkindnesschallenge.com/) – fun and inspirational activities and ideas for all ages. You can also order some Kindness gifts on their website for gifts to students and teachers.
  • Donations to non-profit organizations. These organizations are similar to charities where your monetary or in-kind donations help them with fundraising, food for shelters, building maintenance, free health care, and so forth. 
  • Plant trees. Help plant trees at your local parks, schools, or national forests. Trees are incredible resources for providing oxygen, and the power to remove harmful gases like carbon dioxide making the air we breathe healthier. Always check with locations before planting trees on your own. To find a national park in your state, visit: https://www.nps.gov/findapark/index.html
  • Community cleanups. You can be a party of two or twenty if you want to help clean up your community and local beaches. Start small or join organizations like Keep America Beautiful (https://kab.org/) where you can find local chapters in your area. Join their groups or start your own. Cleaning up your neighborhood and community fosters a healthy and happier environment for all.

Do you have other ideas for promoting kindness and compassion? All it takes is one kind act, and a ripple effect will take place.

Disclaimer: The product(s)were sent to the author for review by the manufacturer/PR. All reviews on “Happymomblogger” remain unbiased and unpaid and are the sole decision of the author. The opinions of these product(s) were not influenced in any way, shape, or form. As always, please read the ingredients carefully when trying new products.

Please read the labels and ingredients carefully and follow all manufacturer’s instructions (if any). The products selected for the giveaway were generously donated by the companies/PR to help readers learn more about their products. The winner’s choice in using/consuming these products are entirely up to the winner and will not hold the author and her family liable nor the companies/PR liable. These products are made with non-toxic ingredients but always be safe with what you use and consume.

http://www.topmommyblogs.com/blogs/in.php?id=storm

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Embracing the Grown Up Child – How to Survive a Brand New Teenager

As I sit here writing this article about the pains of dealing with a growing child, I can just hear my son say, “uh, mom, I’m NOT a child”. Well, sorry to spoil it for you kid, but you are a child and you’ll forever be my child no matter how old you are.

Kids are notorious for telling you what to do. What you did wrong. What you didn’t do. All these facets come into play once you become a parent. But when your child grows steadily into the teenage years, all those declarations of self importance become even more apparent – that you have now entered the emotional, turbulence teenage voyage into adulthood. I say this with a lot of love and endearment, that there’s no one who can test your patience more than your own child. You don’t have to be a Saint to embrace the grown up child, but you should be warned to start diligently placing your patience and tolerance into a box for the times you have to put them to good use on your teenager.

Before I became a mom I was a loving and patient aunt to my nieces and nephews. I love them dearly but I could also easily give them back to their parents. I’d like to think though that watching my nieces and nephews grow up actually helped me as a mom. But I am probably kidding myself or wish it was so. When you’re a parent to your own children every facet of patience and tolerance as an aunt or uncle flew out the window.

As my son entered his early teenage years, I watched and listened to how he interacted with his friends and classmates. Was he kind? Does he get angry and impatient with his friends as I might with him at times? Is he a great friend and a great student? No matter how much I love him and discipline him, I always worry that my own impatience will wear on him. It’s not easy being a parent but I would assume it’s even harder being a child. And I oftentimes reflect to my own teenage years and how I had acted and treated my own parents.

I admit I wasn’t the most tolerable teenager. Some might say I was rebellious but those people didn’t understand I was just being independent. My parents raised my siblings and I to be independent thinkers and I strive to do that with my own child. And as most parents will come to realize – your child will most likely treat you the same way you treated your parents. Be it easy going and relaxed or a demon on Earth, the old adage of you becoming your parents reflect similarly to your own kids. Eventually they’ll become just like you, and that could either be a blessing or a curse.

But as parents, I think we can all pretty much agree that patience and fortitude are what keeps us from going crazy. We can love our kids to death one minute and the next their voices grate our ears like a 20,000 ton freight train. We can discipline them into perfect little A+ students or we can let them run free like the wayward wind. In the end, they will either appreciate what you did or tolerate your parenting skills until they leave the nest.

My son is currently a young teenager but he acts like a grumpy old man sometimes. And when my friends and siblings share stories, it’s incredibly funny how we have such similar instances. Are they ALL related to each other since their capricious moods are all alike? How did my sweet, kind, carefree toddler grow into an impatient, unpleasant, and grumpy teen? I can only cherish the times when he reverts back to the sweet, kind, and innocent child and hold onto those memories…

So I’ve developed some tolerance skills that I want to share with you. Sometimes I really pray they work. But eventually I hope my child has been listening to me all these years and take my lessons to him into adulthood. And if he has his own children some day, I hope he remembers his own grumpy teenage years.

How to survive a brand new teenager:

  • Try to resist yelling at them. If that doesn’t work, yell at them anyway and hope for the best.

  • Try to give them some independence. You’ll be glad that once they can drive they’ll leave you alone for a couple of hours.

  • Once they do have their license and can drive, make them pick up all the last minute stuff that you inadvertently “forgot”.

  • Make them do ten loads of laundry a day that you’ve been doing since they were born. It’ll teach them great hands, arms, and legs coordination.

  • Don’t let them make their own mistakes. Trust me – you’ll be the one fixing them. Instead, you make mistakes and let them fix yours.

  • Find a great therapist. Either you, your spouse, or your kids will eventually need them.

  • Let them be who they are but be watchful. The quickest path to a yelling match is to not allow them self worth.

  • It’s okay to punish them. Tell them you’re doing it “because you love them”.

  • Learn to be on your phone for hours on end just like them. You might even enjoy this new hobby!

  • Ask them a question, then ignore them. This reverse psychology method will surely work, right?

In the end, we all want what’s best for our kids. But it takes a lot of growing pains for the parents and children while your kids are still developing and learning. So be sure to take some time for yourself. Read a book. Write a story. Languish at the pool. Because tomorrow the (arguing, ignoring, late nights, and insert your own action) will once again commence.

 

Disclaimer: The product(s)were sent to the author for review by the manufacturer/PR. All reviews on “Happymomblogger” remain unbiased and unpaid and are the sole decision of the author. The opinions of these product(s) were not influenced in any way, shape, or form. As always, please read the ingredients carefully when trying new products.

Please read the labels and ingredients carefully and follow all manufacturer’s instructions (if any). The products selected for the giveaway were generously donated by the companies/PR to help readers learn more about their products. The winner’s choice in using/consuming these products are entirely up to the winner and will not hold the author and her family liable nor the companies/PR liable. These products are made with non-toxic ingredients but always be safe with what you use and consume.

http://www.topmommyblogs.com/blogs/in.php?id=storm

suzanLeave a comment