Over Christmas my in-laws had a house full, everyone was home. It was so nice being together. My father-in-law shared afterward that one of his favorite moments was on one of the mornings after his shower. He got dressed, came out of the bathroom and found his five-year-old granddaughter, our niece and god daughter, standing proudly next to his bed. She had decided to surprise him by making his bed. And what a surprise it was!
We later found out from her mom that she likes to do t
his sort of thing for her in the mornings, too. It’s not uncommon for my sister-in-law to come out of the bathroom and find an act of love waiting for her.
Kids are experts at simple and spontaneous acts of love.
One day while reading a book to my kindergartners I happened to mention that I loved the smell of pine, like the trees near the playground. Little did I know what that side comment would start. For weeks afterward, after all three recesses my desk would be covered with small pieces of pine branches. Parents would look with bewilderment at my desk at the end of the day, noticing the mess of needles. That small act of love would inevitably make my day.
When’s the last time you felt compelled to share some spontaneous love? (And I don’t mean the February 14th kind of love.)
Maybe it’s bringing a yummy coffee drink to the most unappreciated person at work, sending flowers to your mom for no reason, or the simple act of noticing something small about someone you see everyday.
When we rush through life it’s easy to miss the opportunities that are all around us, the simple acts of love.
Thank goodness kids remind us of this important lesson.
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Oh, this brought a tear. When my younger son was small, I came home one day and there on the table was a wild flower that he’d picked and potted in some dirt. This came along with a piece of paper with, “I love you, Mom” written in pencil in his little-boy printing. Of course the flower didn’t grow in the dirt, but today it’s pressed in some wax paper with the note attached and sits on my dresser where I see it every day. He’s grown, and I’m sure has no memory of this act, but it’s one of my favorite things ever.
Last year, we were at a big trade show, and the woman we were speaking to at one of the booths was really sick with a bad cold. I remembered having seen some herbal “sinus buster” at a booth way back at the beginning and told her about it, but she couldn’t get away.
So after working our way a little farther into the show, I got a break and went back to find the herbal remedy. When I told the guy at the booth about the sick exhibitor, he gave me two samples.
I went back, a couple hours after first talking to her, and dropped it off. She was pretty surprised – we didn’t know each other at all. But I felt so bad for her and wanted to help out.