random act of kindness

Natalie and I took the girls to the local post office today to do a random act of kindness and give out candy canes. We wanted the girls to learn about giving and experience the joy of sharing during the Christmas season.

We gave them a jingle bell necklace, bells on their shoes and proper head attire. Armed with bags of candy canes, they were ready to go...

They really enjoyed giving the candy canes out to the people who accepted them. Once they got the hang of it they really got into it and rushed to greet the people coming in the doors in between asking us if they could eat the candy or breaking them by running around. After about 45 minutes, they decided to start singing "Jingle Bells" and had a great time entertaining people.

Unfortunately, there are quite a few people that need to get in the holiday spirit around here. About a fourth of the people coming through the door completely ignored the girls. Another quarter acknowledged them, but declined the candy canes and about half smiled, acknowledged them and accepted the candy canes with a "Merry Christmas to you too". One woman even cried and got emotional over the girls passing out the candy. One woman made a special effort to come over and wish the girls a Merry Christmas and apologize for being on her phone when she walked by the first time.

Overall it was a great experience for everyone and we hope to do more random acts of kindness in the future!