Don’t you love…

… when your kids make you proud and do the right thing when you are not around.

I pick my daughter up from school and we talk about her day.  I try to ask her open ended questions so I get more than just a one word answer! LOL!!  I ask her what friends she had talked with that day and she names them out and tells me about her classes.  Each day we talk she never mentions her friend Jessica as a friend she talks with at school. Quite often Jessica’s mom will text while the girls are at school to see if my daughter could come over for the weekend or do something fun.

One day I asked my daughter why do you never hang out or talk about Jessica when you tell me who you talked with each day.  My daughter said “Oh because I don’t really hang out with her at school.” Then she asked me “Is that okay to just have friends that you hang out with on the weekend?”  I said “Of course it is okay that there are all different kinds of friends and the best ones are when you haven’t seen each other and just pick up where you left off.” She said “Yea that is what kind of friend Jessica is and we have a lot of fun together.”

Being the curious mom, I asked my daughter if you don’t hang out with her at school, how did you meet her?

She said “Mom, Jessica is new to our school and she was off sitting by herself the first day of school so I went over to her and talked to her.  Ever since then we have been friends.”

Wow I thought, and told my daughter how proud I was of her for going out of her way to go talk to the new girl at her school.  She said, “Of course mom, why wouldn’t I.” You always hope your kids are being kind to others but you may never really know unless you ask them and they are willing to share it with you.

How our kids become kind should not be a surprise for us though we may be surprised how they show kindness. By showing your children and others kindness, you are teaching them to be kind too.

If you have any kind stories about your children please email me at keri@kericollins,com and I’ll post them on my website under Show Your Kindness. Looking forward to hearing your kindness stories.

about the author

Keri Collins is a children’s author who helps kids and parents better themselves by making better choices. She blogs about parenting and kids’ issues, and offers plenty of tips and other advice.