Please and thank you. Being polite to others. Sharing, sympathizing, and doing good deeds.
One such lesson was embedded into my boys this weekend, thanks to a random act of kindness from a complete stranger.
Now, my boys are super sharp. My oldest is now in First Grade and is getting better and better at math, writing, spelling and such. His cognitive skills blow my mind away. My youngest emulates his big brother, so you know he's sharper than the average 4-year old.
At one point they borrowed my phone to use the flashlight app. It turned off, but they were able to find it quickly without a problem.
They also played my 'Cut the Rope' game and beat a few levels I was having trouble with...
The gifts came from a regular at the IHOP we were at. He's a woodworker, and definitely looked the part. He gave two toy cars to the waitress to bring over to the kids.
They were in awe. Instantly it became their favorite toy, and were very grateful. Their mom took them over to the man to say thank you, and he looked a little embarrassed (maybe he's not used to being thanked?). The boys decided they were going to make him a thank you card and give it to him at a future visit.
I talked to my oldest to see if he learned something from the event:
Me: Do you like your new toy?
Him: Yeah, that was very nice of him.
Me: It feels good when people do nice things for no reason, doesn't it?
Him: Yeah. (a few seconds later) Daddy? I want to do a nice thing for someone I don't know now.
I couldn't be prouder. It feels good to be the recipient of a random act of kindness, but it feels just as good to be on the giving end. Now that the seed is planted in his head, he will understand that lesson even more.
This was one of the biggies, and I got to help, thanks to you. My kids will be better people thanks in part to you, and I will never forget this moment.
12 witty retorts:
Great story, thanks for sharing. *I* want to go do something nice for someone now just hearing about it. Maybe I'll vote for the "lame" entries in Dude Write ;)
Srsly tho, this give me hope for us all.
It's a lesson we must always remember--take time to be a community, to be compassionate-to hold out a hand-to model good behavior and to make people feel welcome on this earth. What a beautiful man. All we leave behind is our influence on the living and he just changed your boys' lives forever with that example.
That's strange, I thought the kids of today would be more likely to say "Is this a Bentley? I wanted a Ferrari."
I totally want to kiss your son for wanting to pass it on. So many times we con
Most kids are spoiled because the parents spoil them. Every now and then I see this in my kids, just because they want for nothing.
...but then something like this happens, and I realize how we are all naturally caring. I'm glad they learned this lesson.
Well said. I'm a better person for coming into contact with this gentleman, and so are my boys.
It's amazing what kind of a snowball effect something like this has, isn't it?
Such an uplifting post. I'm really happy for you for being able to experience this wonderful moment. We dads often miss out on this stuff and that's too bad because simple moments like these are the ones you carry with you always.
This is one of those stories that gives me hope for our future and I'm so glad you shared it. Truly a moment to be proud!
Very sweet!!
I thought that was Dick Van Dyke for a second though
You mean to tell me there are good people in the world? Dammit you're messing with my view on people now! That really is lovely work he did and reminds me of toys my grandfather made me and my brother when we were little.
That's really cool. We need older people in the lives of younger people to teach them how things really should be. It's also cool for kids to get a toy that doesn't beep, light up or tweet messages. Good story.
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