Some of you know that I occasionally write articles for a local newspaper insert for the library. I haven't figured out how to find it online with any consistency to be able to link to them, but I wanted to share a story that I am going to submit to the paper soon. I may edit and embellish a little more for the paper, but this is my article/story that is about something that happened this Christmas season:
Over the Christmas break, I had some teenage girls do some babysitting for me, letting the kids sleep in and stay home and play with their new toys. The night before one of the days we had arranged, the girls’ mother called to let me know that the school had recently scheduled a basketball practice and that it was going to interfere with their babysitting and my work schedule. She went on to assure me that she was willing to step in for her daughter for that one hour time period the practice was going to take her away. Whoa! She was going to come home after having worked her 8 hour day and then “fill in” for her daughter babysitting my three children for me! How kind is that?
I was, however, instantly stressed. If she only knew how messy my house was…Having her teenage daughter come to my house is one thing, but having a full time working mother of three of her own children come into my house is entirely another. How embarrassing. It was already close to bedtime when she called, so in the morning I quickly tried to straighten up the house. You know, piling a bunch of stuff on my bed and shutting the bedroom door, leaving a blanket in the middle of the floor that needed vacuuming and doing a load of dishes and laundry. I made sure to tell the kids to be good and asked the girl babysitting to try and not make any other huge messes because I felt “funny” having her mom come to my house and babysit. Off to work I went.
Later in the day, my husband calls to let me know he made it home and “boy the house is sure clean.” I asked who did it and he said well not me. Oh no! Not only did my babysitter’s mom come to my house, but she cleaned it too!!! I was so embarrassed. But, when I walked in the door to my home, it was so refreshing to see a clean floor and a picked up living/dining room. It was such a little thing to make me feel so good. And she wasn’t even there for that long, an hour or less. As I’ve told this story to my co-workers, I’ve come to see it for what it was, a random act of kindness. She wasn’t worried about my mess or the fact that she was at my house babysitting, she was just taking the time she had to give me something, to help me out.
There’s a country song about the kindness of strangers and how one kind act of helping someone change a tire led to a huge tip for a waitress that was pregnant and down on her luck, but smiling nonetheless…Anyway, my point here is: Pass on a random act of kindness. You’ll be surprised how good it makes you feel and how great it makes the recipient feel.
Over the Christmas break, I had some teenage girls do some babysitting for me, letting the kids sleep in and stay home and play with their new toys. The night before one of the days we had arranged, the girls’ mother called to let me know that the school had recently scheduled a basketball practice and that it was going to interfere with their babysitting and my work schedule. She went on to assure me that she was willing to step in for her daughter for that one hour time period the practice was going to take her away. Whoa! She was going to come home after having worked her 8 hour day and then “fill in” for her daughter babysitting my three children for me! How kind is that?
I was, however, instantly stressed. If she only knew how messy my house was…Having her teenage daughter come to my house is one thing, but having a full time working mother of three of her own children come into my house is entirely another. How embarrassing. It was already close to bedtime when she called, so in the morning I quickly tried to straighten up the house. You know, piling a bunch of stuff on my bed and shutting the bedroom door, leaving a blanket in the middle of the floor that needed vacuuming and doing a load of dishes and laundry. I made sure to tell the kids to be good and asked the girl babysitting to try and not make any other huge messes because I felt “funny” having her mom come to my house and babysit. Off to work I went.
Later in the day, my husband calls to let me know he made it home and “boy the house is sure clean.” I asked who did it and he said well not me. Oh no! Not only did my babysitter’s mom come to my house, but she cleaned it too!!! I was so embarrassed. But, when I walked in the door to my home, it was so refreshing to see a clean floor and a picked up living/dining room. It was such a little thing to make me feel so good. And she wasn’t even there for that long, an hour or less. As I’ve told this story to my co-workers, I’ve come to see it for what it was, a random act of kindness. She wasn’t worried about my mess or the fact that she was at my house babysitting, she was just taking the time she had to give me something, to help me out.
There’s a country song about the kindness of strangers and how one kind act of helping someone change a tire led to a huge tip for a waitress that was pregnant and down on her luck, but smiling nonetheless…Anyway, my point here is: Pass on a random act of kindness. You’ll be surprised how good it makes you feel and how great it makes the recipient feel.
3 comments:
I think it's a great post & a great way to thank this mom who helped you out!
whoa! First I would die! then I would lay on the couch and enjoy the cleanliness for as long as it lasted! ha ha!
Random acts of Kindness ... Blessings in Disguise!
Nice, nice post Stacey!
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