Wonderful Story

My colleague shared a wonderful story with us last week about her sister.  Her sister had been at home all day with her sick child.  When her husband arrived home, she went to get a pedicure to have a little "Me" time, and I am sure there are many of us who can relate.

As she slipped her feet into the bowl of warm water, the stream of water was diverted into her lap.  Immediately, the staff brought her towels to wrap around her, as they put her wet clothing in their drier she continued along with her pedicure.  The staff was very apologetic.  They continued with their sorries during the pedicure.  Her sister totally understood that these things happen and told them that everything was alright.  She continued with her kindness and understanding, and at this point, she was reassuring the staff that everything was good and that she was happy and content.

A few minutes later, the lady sitting next to her, who had witnessed the entire event, slipped her sister a note.  The note stated, "I don't know you- but so appreciate the woman you are. What an example you will be to your 1 year old! Your kindness and forgiveness are not found in many humans anymore. Have a great evening!"

Her sister immediately text messaged the incident to her two sisters and her mother.  She thanked her mother for raising her to be the kind person she is.

In reflecting on this entire event, I realize that a person's actions are able to make or break a person's day.  In this chain of events, everyone chose kind actions.  Her sister chose kind actions despite the fact she was physically tired and emotionally drained from a day with a sick child.  The stranger chose kind actions with a small action that reaffirmed the kindness always wins. My colleague chose kindness in sharing the story with us this morning.

Everyone is able to chose how they will handle a plethora of situations on any given day.  The world is most certainly a nicer place when we choose kindness.

I think I will go put a cute notepad in my purse!

Day 1 of summer did not seem much like summer vacation.  The three language arts and social studies teachers who remain from this year met with out new team member to begin planning for next year.  Since we are continuing our work on creating and implementing standards, we began with writing our "Enduring Understandings" for language arts....what do we want our students to remember that we taught them twenty years from now.  Neat thing is that we all seem to be on the same page, and all of us want to create a love of learning.
On another note, my two children left with friends to go camping for the weekend...it is so hard seeing your children grow up and not "need" you any more.  I know they still need me, and I can't wait to hear the stories of what they forgot and such.  I am sure these are the experiences that teach them about the real world.  How I would love to save them from some if these lessons!It seems like yesterday we were packing their bag for first grade.
So, here's to new beginnings for me and for them!