Kindness and Communication

This year I am enjoying a daily calender filled with kindness stories and quotes. Sometimes it features sweet stories of random acts of kindness that bring back memories of kindnesses shown to me.

One of those experiences happened when I was a young mother with 3 children in diapers. We were living in a married student apartment on an almost non-existent budget, and I spent a good portion of my time washing and hanging out and folding cloth diapers. At the time, disposable diapers were new and expensive, so a box of disposable diapers was a treasured luxury. One Mother's Day I opened up my door to find a box of diapers on my doorstep along with a sweet note from a friend who understood my feelings on the subject. A small thing, maybe, but it was one of the best gifts I have ever received. I still feel that way 30 years later.

On other days there are quotes that give me food for thought. I enjoyed this quote of the day a few months ago:

Kindness is love with hands and hearts and minds.It is both whimsical—causing our faces to crack into a smile—and deeply touching—causing our eyes to shimmer with tears.

—Daphne Rose Kingma

Sometimes I surf the Internet for ideas on how to better help David, and come across a gem that makes a difference. I came across Support, Empathy, Truth (SET) at about.com, and have been working on using it. The basic idea is to offer support and reassurance, validate feelings with empathy, and then give a realistic statement about a problem that needs solving. Simple, no? But it is effective, and don't we all wish to be treated with empathy and understanding?

On the family front: David's moods are continuing to be stable most of the time. He's working on his hot rod and starting to do yard work again. As you can see, yard work is something that we desperately need to do! My goal for the spring and summer is to paint some rooms in the house and start a container garden.