I love our neighborhood. We moved here years ago, and we knew immediately that we lucked out with our entire neighborhood. Some examples of kindness we’ve seen from our neighbors over the years:
When moved to the suburbs, we were just a couple of city kids; we used black trash bags to bag our leaves; we didn’t know that wasn’t how it’s done in the suburbs ;-) I think every single one of our neighbors gently set us on the right path.
We watch each other’s houses when we’re away on vacation and water each other’s gardens
I had one neighbor come over with fresh baked cookies and our mail that was accidentally delivered to their house (and thank goodness they gave it to us, there were tax documents in there!).
Another neighbor helped us out when we were shoveling our driveway during our recent huge snowstorms and used his snowblower to get the heaviest snow at the end of our driveway. During the last storm, he even helped me get the snow off the top of my car (I’m really short and would have needed to bust out a stepladder). I was so thankful!
One of our newer neighbors is a young couple. They moved in a couple of years ago soon after they got married. Occasionally some of our toys end up in their backyard, so I end up knocking on their door on a regular basis during the warmer months. I saw her in spring last year and realized she was expecting a baby. I was excited for them!
I remember what it was like to have a new baby at home. You barely have time to take a shower, much less cook. I thought about the things I appreciated most as a mom of a young baby: quick and easy food. The kids and I made some granola bars and individually wrapped them and put them in freezer safe bags for them.
Then I found a baby blanket I made when I was pregnant with my second child. It’s way too small for him to use anymore, but I loved it and I wanted to pass it on to someone who could use it. I wrapped it all up in a little basket with tissue paper and put it on their front steps.
The next time we were playing outside and we saw them, they were so appreciative! She said it was the perfect gift for the mom of an infant, because you need to eat fast!!
She also said that the blanket was the baby’s new go to when riding in the car. I’m so glad she loved it, and I’m glad we got to do something nice for our neighbors and keep the good deeds traveling around our neighborhood.
Spreading kindness is amazing. Episode 70 of the Calm & Connected Podcast talks about how one act of kindness can spread!
To read more about encouraging kindness, check out the posts below:
