My boyfriend and I joke sometimes about what we would do without Sarah in our lives. She's always on her feet thinking about the little things, the details and truly has a heart of gold. At a recent gathering, we realized that we had no candles or couldn't find any candles...but of course, Sarah had brought some! That's just one example of how amazing she is. 

Erik (the boyfriend) has had a broken foot for the past few months and Sarah was so great about reaching out to him while I was away traveling and just checking on him to see if he needed anything.

And then another time, she dropped off some fabulous warm cookies she had just baked.

Everyone needs a Sarah in their life. I feel lucky to have one!

I have two examples to prove how it can make someone's day.

Carter, my husband, took both girls for a stroll in the neighborhood to the cafe for "treats."  He got Lilah a cookie treat.  Carter got a "beer-treat" as Lilah called it when she was reporting on the outing later.  Carter reported that when they were outside at the cafe table, a man who had been sitting next to them, stopped by Carter as he was leaving and said "I really like the way you parent.  You're a good dad."  Oh my god, was Carter on cloud nine the rest of the day or what?  He almost seemed to glow from the inside.  Clearly in this case, it meant more that a stranger said he was a good dad than if I had......

I was the lucky recipient of the next example of kindness.  When I picked Lilah up from day care yesterday, one of the teachers said "in all my training I'm warned of crossing the personal/professional relationship with parents.  I shouldn't do this, but here." and she handed me an envelope with my name on it.  I opened it last night and was buoyed beyond words.  This gal must have heard some of my stressful comments about work because here's the card she gave me:

These recent experiences remind me of an Art of Kindness newsletter on sharing spontaneous compliments that I wrote a few years ago...clearly, some things never change.

Live Kindly,

Emma!

Last week I had THE BEST beginning to a day.  My neighbor and friend Hannah joined me as I strolled Lilah to day care.  I had the two kids in the stroller and she had her two NEW 3 month old Japanese Chin puppies!!  It took forever to "walk" the few blocks to day care because the pups were afraid of the stroller and because they were going every-which-way and because we just plain lolly-gagged.

It was fun, though, Lilah was calling the dogs to "come on" as if she was walking them, although she was sitting in the stroller.  Calli also liked the pups and couldn't take her big eyes off of them.

When we got to school, we went in to see if the other kids wanted to come out and say hello to the puppies.  Now things start to get REALLY CUTE.  There were two other boys in Lilah's 2-year-old room at day care that day and one of the boys was in heaven with the puppies crawling all over him.  He was very very good and gentle with the tiny puppies.  When it was time for the kids to go inside, I hear the little boy tell the teacher "I want a doggie."  Uh oh!

So today it happened again.  We hadn't planned to see Hannah, but we ran into her and the pups & the whole ordeal with Lilah playing with the pups and the other kids coming out to see them happened again.  It could happen everyday as far as I'm concerned, that kind of happy-kid-kindness is good for my heart.

Next time, though, I'll have photos!

Live Kindly,

Emma!

People are so generous with baby clothes, ready-made dinners, and advice (!!) when you bring a new baby home for the first time.

The second time, not so much.

And I have to say, the second time, even MORE than the first time (for me) the ready-made food was such a huge help, because you have a child ready for dinner.  So keeping things as consistent as possible (i.e. not going out to a restaurant or getting take-out every night) is more important than when it's just adults and you cope with whatever.  The families that brought us food when our second daughter was born will be immortalized in my personal "Kindness Hall of Fame" because it was SO HELPFUL and SO THOUGHTFUL.

My friend Emily did another AMAZINGLY thoughtful thing when baby Calli joined us a few months ago.  She brought me a Bob-the-Builder magnetic block set.  Random, I know, but it wasn't actually for me, it was for my 2-year-old.  It was a distraction for when I needed to nurse the baby, fold the laundry, or straighten up (which I was always doing one of those three things!).  It was a very been-there-done-that gift, as if she knew EXACTLY what would help.

So when my friend Katie had baby #3, I paid that brilliance forward.  Here's how Katie felt about it:

Emma, I literally cried when I opened my door this evening.  You have no idea how welcome your surprise was this evening!  My husband has been out of town for 2 weeks...and I was reaching the end of my rope!  Your treats truly buoyed my soul!  Not to mention, made my kids week! They absolutely love the things you sent!  Charlie is sleeping with the hat on and drill in hand and Isabelle has the purse and book in her bed!  And, I just enjoyed the most delicious piece of cake!  I really cannot thank you enough for your thoughtfulness and generosity!  You epitomize kindness!  And, I am so grateful!  Many, many thanks!  Katie

Yay!  Although I've been out of blog-land for months...I haven't lost my touch :)

Live Kindly,

Emma

I was at the carwash today (I like to go for the free popcorn and lemonade to be honest!). And I noticed an older woman who had two canes who was watching her car. Her car ended up being moved to the far end of the carwash lot and I noticed she would have to walk pretty far to get to her car.

So I asked her if I could ask about having her car moved closer. And she was so surprised and so grateful. I asked and got the guys to move her car closer to her. As we stood there waiting, she kept saying thank you and admired the privleges I took and said she would learn from me - that she would ask next time.

It was such a simple thing to do and reminded me of the simple acts of kindness that will present themselves in all situations at all times of the day.

It also reminded me of the kindness we can show toward our older citizens and how simple can asks can turn into large amounts of gratitude.

Kindness can come in many forms - and that can include being kind to your environment and your community. Here are some kind-minded ideas to celebrate today and heck - the rest of the year!

*Walk around your neighborhood with a trashbag and pick up the trash around your house. Every little bit counts!

*Remember to bring your own bags to the grocery and all other stores today. Many of those stores offer a bag credit and you are being kind by not taking any plastic or paper bags with you.

*Take public transportation! Or carpool! It's a great way to get out in the community and you won't have to worry or stress about driving.

*Go through your closet and really weed through the clothes you don't wear. Have a swap with your friends OR donate to Goodwill or find a local charity that provides outfits for interviews.

*Go thorugh your house - what don't you need? And then get on Freecycle!

*Save trees! Save paper! Try using cloth towels instead of paper towels. Consider signing up for the national do not mailing list so you cut down on the amount of credit card offers and catalogs you get in the mail.

*Plant some flowers and veggies! If the First Lady is doing it at the White House, we can too! Planting a vegetable garden means you know where your vegetables are coming from and you are following the seasons and therefore really eating vegetables that don't cost money in transport or are against the season. And flowers can just help beautify the neighborhood!

So many ways to be kind. Celebrate Earth Day!

When I was about 23 I was traveling from Portugal to France on an overnight train by myself. In my mind, I had planned to get off in Nice, however, I fell asleep somewhere in the northern part of France and missed my stop. It was late at night, I didn't know much French and I was all alone.

When I woke up I heard the train director say that the next stop was the city of Cannes. So I frantically pulled out my travel book and began looking up hostels that might be close to the station. I had no idea if there would be availability at any of the hostels that were listed or if it would be possible to get to them safely so late at night.

I ended up using my humble french to ask a couple sitting near me if I could by any chance use their cell phone to call a hostel and they graciously accepted my plead. A few rows back, a young french girl must have overheard me and sensed my stress. When I got off the phone she moved into the seat next to me and told me that she had a car at the station and would be happy to drive me around Cannes to see if I could find a place to stay the night.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing and not having any other options I put my faith in this stranger and accepted her offer. We ended up driving to 3 different hostels, all of which had no availability.

So, Segolene, ended up offering me a place on the floor at her apartment for the night. She said that she had been planning a solo backpacking trip through South East Asia and wanted to do this in hopes that during some time of need on her trip, someone would take the same mercy on her.

I would have been roaming the dark streets of Cannes scared out of my mind for an evening if she had not been so generous and willing to take a chance on a stranger.

But every cloud does have a silver lining doesn't it?

I was amazed though to see all of the kindness acts from their internet friends. One woman started a donation site so that others could donate to help offset some of the funeral costs.

Two women put together packages for nurses at their local NICU and became guardian angels for the day for those who care for little ones.

It's amazing how the internet has brought all these amazing connections together. Through blogs, Twitter, Facebook - there are so many ways to keep close with others and so many ways to share compassion.

Check it out:  Doctor prescribes recipe to heal a heavy heart.