As I mentioned last week, and in my post about Advent, we’ve started a new tradition in our family this year. RACK is a commitment to performing Random Acts of Christmas Kindness for 24 days in anticipation of Christmas. It connects us to other people and reminds us of all our blessings along the way.
We started out by coming up with a list of ideas of things we could do in our community, in our schools and neighborhood to add some light + beauty of this season to the world. I’ve been keeping track of our progress along the way too. Even though our intention is there, we haven’t been able to quite make it to a daily routine, but we are close! I’ll try and post a few photos along the way. I really want to keep the focus of the act rather than doing it to blog about it so I’ll post a recap later in the month.
One of the most fun acts of kindness we’ve had so far was a visit to the shopping center with hands full of candy canes. The kids walked up to strangers and simply said “Merry Christmas” while handing them a candy cane. The smiles that came across people’s faces were magical. It was such a special moment each time. My kids were surprised that everyone wanted to know ‘how much’ for the candy cane. They innocently thought people would just be thrilled. I had to explain that most things in life are paid for and that people don’t generally offer things for free thus this expectation that certainly my kids were looking to raise money for something! But once we explained that we were simply spreading good will everyone was so grateful. We made a few older folks so happy and even a few young ones too. It was such a delight I wish I could do it everyday. Making others smile like that knowing that they can never repay you in any way except smiling is an amazing feeling.
A little word of caution – not all kids enjoy this. My oldest found this quite uncomfortable and preferred to come alongside my daughter and I, but didn’t want to initiate any of it himself. Totally fine with me. The point is not to terrify a shy child! I also gave him the chance to sit, but he decided he wanted to join us, just not do the talking.
On another trip we took brownies we baked to the train station to pass out to people waiting for the train. We found a few skeptics, but mostly we found hungry passengers happy to have a treat!
I love watching people’s eyes light up or leaving a surprise for someone knowing that whoever finds it will be touched even if we don’t get to witness it. But what is really amazing is seeing how it’s changing my kids’ ideas about what Advent means. Performing Random Acts of Kindness is not a new idea of course. I felt that the countdown to Christmas was a perfect time to remind ourselves and those we touched of our blessings, of how we are connected to one another, and to really wake up and SEE the people around us. I originally came up with the idea after reading a blog post about a mom that took her 38th birthday to perform 38 random acts of kindness and have since found so many wonderful people with fun and thoughtful ideas that spread love and joy all year long.
Top photo credit: patti lehman photography
