Lead by example was a thought that occurred to me after my daughter came home last week talking about filling her bucket. “Bucket?” I asked, “what kind of bucket?” She showed me her hands and said, “mom the bucket is my heart.”
At school they had talked about the kind things they could do for others to make them happy and by extension make her feel good too. I absolutely loved and was grateful that she was being taught this at school. She was proud as a peacock after she made me a brand new recipe book, read stories to her brother and helped her sister clean up her room. So much bucket filling.
This conversation and activity brought me to a few more thoughts though, one being that this is the exact thing we need to be teaching our children. Kindness, love, empathy, respect and sympathy are the qualities we need to help instill in our children especially in today’s harsh, scary world.
If we do not love each other what do we have left? To be honest, when I watch or read the news, I feel so depressed, sick and sad. There’s just so little good reported in the world, so little good to focus on. It begs the question of why aren’t more humans being kind to one another? Wouldn’t life be better if some of the hate was washed away with love? Shouldn’t we be teaching our children acceptance and tolerance?
Often people focus on the bad things in life, the negative way someone reacts to them, or the fact that someone stole their parking spot, or maybe someone looked away instead of waving. We forget about turning the other cheek. How then do we get the idea of kindness across to our children amidst all the terrible news that floats around us? The answer is that we must show them, lead by example.
If we are tolerant of those around us they will learn to be also. If we help a neighbour by bringing up their garbage can they see it. If we deliver cookies to those that are overlooked they notice.
It’s easy to get caught up in our busy lives, but just try to make a little time to show those around you that you care. Any little gesture goes a long way in making someone else feel good as well as yourself and it’s a great example for your little ones.
As parents our most important job is raising children that can, in some way, make a positive impact on our world. Yes it’s important to raise children that are intelligent, athletic, critical thinkers, artistic, etc … but I think what trumps all is a child that is kind, empathetic, thoughtful and true.
We have a hard job doing that in today’s world but I truly believe that a little kindness goes a long way. If we can be kind people in this world our children will learn to be kind also!
So go out there and fill your buckets, starting small. Do little gestures for family members and then make it bigger. Do something for a neighbour or a family in your community. The ideas are endless and you will notice that small gestures go a long way in making you feel good as well as those around you. I promise your child will absolutely love performing these acts of kindness along side you.
