Shall we make a new rule of life from tonight : always to try to be a little kinder than is necessary – J.M. Barrie

A few months ago I was waiting at the doctor’s. There was a young mum with her 2 kids from about 2 and 5 years old. They were actually quite good, but of course being kids they didn’t sit still. The eldest was looking in a ‘Top Gear’ magazine, drooling over the fab cars. So the ooohs and aaahs coming out of his mouth were really excited. His mum was constantly at him : don’t touch this, be silent, don’t do that, leave this alone, be quiet,…

At one point she snapped the magazine away and gave it to her youngest son… who wasn’t interested in the magazine at all. But the eldest boy couldn’t have it back. I felt so sorry for this little guy. He didn’t misbehave at all and was really supportive towards his little brother : teaching him the colors, playing guessing games,… but he couldn’t do much good in his mother’s eyes. She kept picking on him.

Then the doctor called in the mum and her boys. But as it was only to fill in a form, she just took the smallest with her while the eldest boy could stay in the waiting room. The boy immediately took the ‘Top Gear’ magazine and started to ask me questions about the cars in the magazine. Now, I’m not interested in cars and as I have older children of my own, I’m not particularly interested in little children anymore… I could’ve ignored his questions, but I didn’t have the heart to do so ! I felt so sorry for this boy… he hadn’t done anything wrong and still was constantly reprimanded by his mother. So I pointed out my favorite car on each page, I asked him what his favorite car was and in which color he would like to have it, I spelled BMW for him, I said that an old car isn’t just named ‘an old car’ but an old-timer…

I probably spent about 5 minutes with this  boy and he was so good, he was so glad to get a little attention and to me… well, it gave me such a good feeling ! Because being kind to someone reflects on your own wellbeing.

So try to be a little kinder sometimes than is actually necessary. You’ll get such a satisfying reward !

Love, Kathleen