This is completely not birth related, but I’d like to share my ramblings on this.
This week, I experienced two very distinct random acts of kindness. It’s amazing how a stranger can completely boost your faith in humanity. Each of these acts came at a perfect time to nourish my soul, and remind me that the good you put out in the universe will be rewarded many-fold.
My life is very busy. Three very small children. A thriving business that I love, but that keeps me very, well… busy. Did I mention that those three very small children are like, seriously small? I’m talkin’ 5, 4 and 1. It’s so easy to get caught up in everyday tasks. The long list of must-do’s required for every day to be even remotely complete. When you’re living in the midst of it, a random act of kindness reminds you that your efforts are being rewarded beyond your expectations. Perhaps the universe is telling you that deeds you’ve done (simply because you’ve enjoyed doing them) have actually helped people. Perhaps the universe is reminding you that random people are happy to go out of their way to help you.
Both of these random acts may seem small to some, but each meant the world to me, simply because they were completely unexpected.
The first random act happened when I checked my PO box last Sunday. I found a card, with a return address that I didn’t recognize. It wasn’t a student, and it wasn’t a doula client. I wasn’t expecting a mail-in payment. I opened it to find a Starbucks gift card, and a very sweet thank you note. My first thought was “What on earth could someone be thanking me for?” As I read, I discovered that the card was from a mom in the local cloth diaper group that I head-up. Although this mama and I had never personally met, she went on to thank me for providing the group, and let me know how much it had helped her with her cloth-diapering journey. I was blown away that a person I had never met would take the time to send me such a sweet thank you. As a mom, I know five minutes are hard to come by! Not to mention the very generous Starbucks gift card included. It has already been put to use twice this week!
The second random act of kindness occurred on Tuesday. I was waiting for my sandwich at The Local Baker, a bakery in Downtown Upland, right by my office. It was an hour before class, and dangit, I was hungry! As I was waiting, a lady came in to pick up a custom order of 4 loaves of green bread. It took me a second, but I finally realized that it was March 15th and St Patrick’s day was only 2 days away. I asked the lady if it was for St. Patty’s Day and she told me that ever since her kids were little, she has made them green lunches on March 17th. She went on to tell me that they’re adults now, but it’s still a family tradition. I told her what a great idea that was and said that I should start doing that for my own kids. She asked how many kids I had and I told her that I had three. As the owner was slicing the green bread, this very sweet customer told her to package up six slices for me so that I could make green sandwiches for my kids. I was thrilled, and I offered to pay her for them, but she refused. My kids LOVED their green sandwiches, and this will definitely become a family tradition on St. Patty’s!
Between these two acts, I had a smile plastered on my face all week. What random acts of kindness have been bestowed upon you?
