Kindness Share

Last night in our family home evening, I wanted to talk about kindness. My kids are mean to each other, and outside the home I’m afraid that some of them are not considerate of others’ feelings. They aren’t trying to be mean, but if your sole focus is on yourself, you can unwittingly hurt feelings. I want them to consciously try being kind. (Amanda does not have this problem outside the home.)  So, starting next week we are adding the “kindness share” to our weekly agenda. Hopefully this will spur consciousness a little bit.

Side note: I told them that we’d begin now and start sharing next week. I am concerned that rather than consciously perform an act of kindness, some of my kids will just think of something they did, or didn’t do, and try to justify it as an act of kindness. (e.g., I didn’t shove her. That’s kind, right?) With this concern on my mind mind, I wasn’t thrilled when Erika said, “I have one!” I said, “You can’t have one, we just started.” She asked, “I can’t have an idea?” Oops. Yes, ideas are allowed.