Story of Kindness

The other day, my 2.5 year old son told me, "When I get big I want to be just like you" with a big hug and a smile. Then he thought for a moment and asked, "When you were little did you want to be just like me?"

I saw a cute little baby in the seat of the shopping cart today. While mommy was unloading the groceries onto the belt to be rung up, baby was busy pulling things out of the display in the line and dropping them to the floor. I went over and picked up the stuff before she noticed what was happening. She gave me the mama bear 'BACK OFF LADY' look until she saw what I was doing. I just laughed.

Not today, but the other day I was having a bad day no sleep, upset in general and my 2 1/2 year old daughter - who was NOT being an angel all day - walked up to me, told me to lie down then after I did started rubbing my back and singing me a lullaby.

Two-legged dog -- http://www.tonic.com/article/faith-two-legged-dog-inspire...

and one of my own:

I was moved as I watched a young girl befriend an elderly woman who was nearly blind. It reminded me that in any moment we can extend care to another person making a difference for both and for our world.

My mother lay in severe pain with only 3 or 4 days to left to live. Exhausted, I slept in the bed next to her. In the middle of the night I lay quietly watching as Diana, one of the aides, came in to turn my mother from one side to the other. Diana didn't know I was awake. She first administered a pain med to be sure the movement would be painless. Her hands expertly made the shift, tucking pillows around my mother and covering her again to keep her warm. My mother looked coddled like a baby wrapped in a mantle of loving, protective arms. Diana had done her job. I was grateful for her help.
But then, in the deep stillness of that cold winter's night, Diana leaned over and gently kissed my mother's cheek and stroked her hair. My heart flew open and I wanted to embrace Diana for that simple expression of kindness. Her simple expression of love caressed me as well and filled the room with love. Diana had wrapped us both in loving, caring arms. I often remember Diana's simple gesture of care. It reminds me at times to slow down and to reach out to another. It just might make a difference.

A softy? Sounds like you're living in your heart!

OH my goodness...I am so sorry that you are having a bad day...but you are right to want to share some good moments that others have had...I will be interested in seeing what others have to say in response to your question.
I Guess my favorite "softy moment" of the past few days was when my 32 month old grandson and his Momma (my oldest daughter) were visiting this past weekend. Kieran LOVES to "hide" with me under an afghan on the sofa...and wait for Grandpa or Momma to "find" us....we were whispering to each other under the afghan and suddenly he puts his little hands, one on either side of my face and says "I love you Grandma"....talk about my heart melting!!! If you think that being a Mother has made you into an old softie...just wait until you are a Grandma...,believe me there is NOTHING in the world better!!!!
I work in a pharmacy...and so I see a lot of people that are struggling with physical issues...we have one particular customer who is in her early 40's and is evidentally suffering from Alzheimers, in the past 2 or 3 months I have seen her go from a vibrant, smiling, laughing young Mother to a shuffling, unemotional woman who wont even make eye contact with you. Her 12 or 13 year old son came in with her the other day, along with her Mother, and this young man was being SO loving and attentive to his Mother!!! You could tell that he loved her so much, even though she was beyond being able to show love in return. She would be SO proud of her son if she could realize what a kind and loving young man she had raised!!!
I will be back later to see what the other Mama's have had to say!!!

right now my son and my nephew are sitting side by side next to me on the couch, 7 and 6 years old, both in their spiderman costumes with the huge muscles, huddling together watching jumanji with the lights off, telling each other that they arent scared of anything. so cute

The best thing I've seen all week was my husband dancing with our son. Here he is, the big guy in the Air Force, the serious workaholic and Mr. Go To, and he is spinning and twirling, hopping and skipping because to do it makes our son happy. It was the greatest, kindest thing I've seen all week. And it was pretty funny, too. =)

Today, we were walking in the Mall and there was a baby (about 1 yr old) sitting in his stroller crying, saying dada, and trying to reach for "dada" who was standing behind the stroller slightly turned away talking to someone else. As we approached, my 7 yr old started waving at him, said hi and turned to walk backwards to wave. As soon as she waved at him, he tried to wave back and stopped crying!

She was so happy and proud that SHE helped the little boy feel happy! She even turned to us and asked if we saw!

I work in a small Christian preschool. Our 3-5 yr olds wanted to have a fundraiser for the children of Haiti when the earthquake happened there after a brief discussion arised among the children. Our teaching staff was fully behind their wish to raise $100 for this cause. We all discussed it in circle time the day after the tragedy happened. We decided we would each bring in any extra change that we had at our house (with our Mom and Dad's permission) for 3 wks and then count it all and send it in for Save the Children, so the kids in Haiti could have $ for " food and tents and new toys". Two separate parents (Dad's ) in the class had lost ther jobs that year, one 6 months earlier and one a yr earlier and times were tough at home for both families then we knew. One of the children, age 4, came to me right after our circle time and told me privately that he "probably could not bring any coins to school for the kids in Haiti since my Daddy has no job right now" I told the boy that was not a problem and he should not worry about it. I told him the next day I would bring in some of my extra change to share with him so he could put the $ in for the kids. Tears came to my eyes the next morning when he bought in his entire piggy bank full of coins to give to the kids in Haiti he said. Mom and Dad were there and fully behind his decision to give his only coins "for kids who needed it more than I do" . His Dad had been out of work for 1 yr. unknown to most of the other families. I hugged and praised him for his great kindness that day. Can you believe the compassion and caring for others this boy displayed that day. It still brings tears to my eyes when I think of it. The children surpassed their goal of $100 and sent the charity $250 they raised. THere is hope for the future

On Saturday we were over visiting my sister, who lives 3+ hours away so we dont get to see her often, and I sat on the couch with my 3 year old and her 9 month old, all kind of snuggled together, and even though he kept banging his head on hers (he had to look at everyone while they talked lol) she said "I love my baby cousin, Seth." It really got me. :-)

Uh--does my son trying to turn my car into a Nascar count? He drew numbers on the sides and hood with sidewalk chalk-with enough pressure to slightly scratch the paint. He's going to learn how to wax a car tomorrow in hopes it will come out. I'm not laughing yet.....

Funny, yes! A baby got into his mother's purse while at walmart. He found her lipstick. =) Which was a bright red. SHE LAUGHED HER BUTT OFF RIGHT THERE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE AISLE! It reminded me not to take "accidents" so seriously cause they are just that....accidents. =) I hope you feel better!

My husband turned into a softy after the baby. He is 6'2 250 lbs., tatoos and rides a bike. Not that he is rough but his appearance and size can be a bit overwhelming to others. When the baby was born he turned into the most tender soft hearted individual. He will do anything for her and she knows it. There is nothing better than seeing him melt when she says, "Daddy".

My sons both know that I love coffee. They actually fight over who gets to help me make it in the morning! (They are almost 2 and almost 4 years old.) One morning, when everyone woke up way too early for my taste, my husband changed my youngest son's diaper and then brought him in to lie down with us. Suddenly, little boy popped up, ran down the hall, and came back into our bedroom. He had his toy coffeepot (from a kitchen set) and a toy cup in his hands. He gave me the cup and kept refilling it, each time saying, "Coffee is so tasty. Mmmm, mommy. You like coffee."

It was way too early in the morning, but it really started my day off right!

I have two grown sons. This morning my 24 year old went with me to take our dog for a walk. That's a big deal! He is busy, but he knew I had been missing him and he gave me his time. Then, this evening his girlfriend came to dinner. But she called a couple of hours before to see if she could bring anything. That was considerate (and with sons not something I am used to).

I'm sorry you are having a sad day. I hope you can surround yourself with warmth tonight and feel comforted.

Thank you, thank you for posting this question! I haven't had a sad day, but it's been just an ordinary one... just a day to get things checked off the to-do list. Sigh. Yawn. Reading the responses tonight has made me smile and even laugh! Thanks again!

Softy is an understatement, I can't even walk down the Hallmark card aisle or especially hear anything bad happening to children. I don't have a good story for today, but I highly recommend signing up for the Daily Notes from the Universe. http://www.tut.com/theclub/ I've been getting them for over a year and they show up in your inbox in the morning and help you get a better idea about how important YOU are in the universe. Plus they're funny. Good luck : ) Here's an example of one,

You're the only person who knows what's right for you.
The only one.
And if you already know what this is, commit to it. If you don't, commit to nothing.

Only you know,
The Universe

I don't think we turn into 'softies' but as moms we are so aware of all the possibilities, good and bad!

OK, so it's not kid related (mine are 20 and 16) but I have a cool story when I was walking my dogs today. I have one that is a golden/lab mix and one that is a lab/husky mix. Being big dogs they get walked a minimum of once a day. Today, a butterfly came and landed on my lab/husky mix. It just sat there like he was hitching a ride or something for the longest time. Where we live it is not 'country' but we do see a fair amount of wildlife and beautiful things like lots of butterflies.

I guess, to think of a mom story, my 20 year old SON told me he loved me on the phone. Which may not sound like a big deal, but he was with friends. I'd like to think that a 20 year old, 6 foot something, built like a linebacker son telling his mommy he loves her in front of his friends is a big deal!

You'll be. . . you ARE fine!

My 18 month old got into my purse. She found a package of gum. I followed the half eaten unwrapped pieces into my bedroom were I found my little one. She was lounging on my bed with her purse which she had deposited all my gum into. She had her legs up on my pillow eating, not chewing, a piece of gum as she lay there watching TV. Little stinker! She isn't allowed to watch TV and she isn't suppose to have gum. She laughed at me and said "I like it."

My husband took my older kids fishing. I took a walk and when I caught back up to them I found them dangling their poles off the dock. There were tones of 4 inch little fish eating their worms off the hooks. They were so excited that they just kept loosely putting worms on the hooks so the fish wouldn't get caught. I guess feeding the fish is more fun than catching them.

This weekend a stranger unexpectedly picked up the lunch tab for my friend's family of seven.

At the grocery store today while waiting in line there was a woman in front of me paying with food stamps. She didn't have enough to buy something and was trying to get the cashier to close it out so she could go figure something out. However the cashier couldn't figure out how to do it. So she called the manager and instead of creating a big deal he paid for what the woman was lacking. It made me almost cry because you don't see that very often anymore.
The lady was so happy!

This is a little TMI, but my 3 year old son is in the midst of potty training - probably the most frustrating and amusing time... stop now if you don't want to read boy potty stories (LOL)!

He thinks it's funny to beat me to the toilet if I act like I have to get there first. And he's paying attention to what's going on while he's peeing and commenting about it - like "it's fast" (meaning the pee as it's shooting out) and saying "Up/down/up/down" after recently discovering he could flex and little "mr happy" moved up and down. Holy cow, I nearly passed out laughing at that one!

My baby girl had her first real laugh today. More than the baby giggle, but the "OMG mommy, you are so funny and I love you" laugh. :D I had to record it and send it to everyone in my family. FEEL BETTER! :)

I was engrossed working on a painting today, neglecting the kids for an extra hour or two (as I have all week) trying to finish it, and my 2 1/2 yo teetered in and started "messing with my stuff behind me". Annoyed, I knew he was about to topple something over etc, I whirled around, and he was coming toward me with my big heavy coffee mug from the table telling me to have a sip, take a break" then when I took it, he turned to the painting and said, 'VVEEEERY GOOD WORK MOM!" with a bright smile. I'm still tearing up over it.