Each Kindness

When the PTO informed me that I had over $200 dollars to spend at the book fair, I was ecstatic. I combed through the shelves and piles of books, thumbing through pages. The stack in my arms teetered as I collected American Girl, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Magic Treehouse, and non-fiction books bursting with glossy photographs and a plethora of facts about everything from rocks to women in history to outer space.
                As I was finishing up, I paused in front of an unassuming picture book titled ‘Each Kindness.’ The cover wasn’t flashy. I had probably walked past it at least two times without even noticing it. However, after flipping through the story, I knew it was going to be a read aloud that very day.
                I want my kids to learn their multiplication facts and how to write a paragraph with a well-crafted topic sentence. I want my kids to learn to explore and wonder and think critically. However, I also want them to cultivate kindness, so I am always looking for literature to support that goal.
                As I read the book out loud to them less than an hour later, they sat on the carpet, eyes glued to the illustrations. The story ushered in a silent anticipation with the turning of each page as the main character and her classmates excluded a new student. Concern spread across their faces as the new student continually asked to play with the others but was rejected to the point where she just stopped asking. After a conversation with their teacher about the ripples of kindness, the main character finally decided to show kindness to the new student the next day.
                She never had that opportunity.
                The student didn’t come to school the next day. Or the day after that. Her family had moved away.
                The main character reflected on the missed opportunities, for the kindness she had never shown.
                As soon as I closed the book, hands darted into the air. My students were eager to share their own thoughts, their own reflections and experiences. They discussed how important it was to be kind when opportunities arose because that opportunity might not be available again.
                Kindness, they said, matters.
                There is so much pain in this world. So much suffering, inequity, and injustice.
                Kindness fights back. Kindness tells people they matter in a world and society that often tries to convince them otherwise.
                And it is present.
                I see kindness in my students as they ask kids to play who are standing alone.
                I see kindness in my co-workers who give up parts of their planning time to answer my unending questions.
                I see kindness in my friends who wait out in the pouring rain with me when I’ve lost my keys yet again.
                I see kindness in my family who spent several days helping me pack and prepare for a move.
                I see kindness in complete strangers who hold the door open for me with a warm smile.
                I see kindness in all of the people fighting for justice.
                Kindness isn’t always grandiose. If we are constantly seeking to be kind only when opportunities present themselves with big flourishes, we miss the countless opportunities that arise in the mundane, the ordinary. Kindness is found in both the large events and the small moments.
                Kindness reminds people that they are not alone. It reinforces the power of connection, and it can transform and inspire.

Don’t miss the opportunities because kindness can change somebody’s story.

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