#withkindnessandlove 6 – stories of kindness and sharing some blog love

#withkindnessandlove is a weekly series which is part of my #365daysofkindness project which I am taking on during this year. Each week, I will be sharing some stories of kindness along with some things that have made me smile during the week.  Some weeks I might share a quote that has inspired me, or some suggestions for small acts of kindness that I have come across. Here are this week’s little moments of kindness and little things I have loved.

 

Little moments of kindness

We were holding a coffee morning at church last weekend to raise money for Little Hearts Matter. Saturday coffee mornings are a regular thing at our church with different people hosting each week to raise money for a charity of their choice.  We’ve done a few now and often find that when we arrive to set up, that the cups and saucers are already laid out for us thanks to one of the church members who is always there early on Saturday mornings. Having one less thing to worry about when we are juggling two small children and various items for the coffee morning makes for a much less stressful start and I always appreciate this little kindness that makes it a little easier.

“Mine is from about a year ago or so, my children were 2 and 1 and were not in a good mood. I was stressed about work and I just didn’t know what to do about their non-stop crying and arguing. I was too early for work (they come with me) and so decided we would go to Costa for a second breakfast to pass the time. As I walked in I felt everyone stare at me turning up first thing in the morning (about 7.15am) with two screaming children. It is usually calm and peaceful at that time, childfree with people having a break before work. I felt very guilty destroying the peace but it was freezing so we couldn’t stand outside. I ordered drinks and sat down. The crying and moaning did not stop while we drank our drinks. Then a man (who had been staring at us since we walked in) came over and I thought he was going to tell us to go away. Instead he asked if he could buy me breakfast and came back with some toast. At the same time a woman who had been standing in the queue bought me a coffee over and told me that I was doing a great job and she was so lucky being able to leave her own screaming children behind for some peace and quiet at work. I just cried. It was the nicest thing anyone could have done for me there and then and made me feel 100x better. I now always look out for people in the same situation so that I can repay the favour!” (Sam – Chocolate and Wine and I’ll Be Fine)

 

“I’ve run The Money Shed for 3 years now and we’ve built up an amazing community of UK people who are all wanting to earn extra cash from home. The hours have been very long when it’s come to the amount of work required by the site on top of my full-time job but I’ve always believed in the site as a way I could personally help people and improve their lives! When I got married in October 2015 I was gobsmacked when they had a whip round behind my back and I received a HUGE PayPal amount into my account on the Wedding Day as a gift from out of nowhere!!!” (Jon – The Money Shed)

 

 

Sharing some blog love

A blog post that I have loved

I used to keep a compliments book several years ago – it was a great way of helping to boost my self-esteem at a time when I was feeling quite low about myself. It’s been a long time since I last added to it but it’s still lovely to look back on. I loved reading That Mummy Blog’s post about her starting to keep one and a lovely encounter she had whilst out and about with a lady stopping to reassure her. Little moments like these can make such a difference on those challenging days of parenting that we all struggle with.

 

A photo that made me smile

Sibling love is such a beautiful thing. This gorgeous photo from @entertainingelliot of her son looking at his baby sister captures it so perfectly.

 

He loves his baby sister 🙂

A photo posted by Elaine Betteridge (@entertainingelliot) on Feb 7, 2017 at 3:28am PST

 

If you have any stories about being on the receiving end of an act of kindness that you’d like me to include in a future blog post, please feel free to email them to me at louise @ littleheartsbiglove.co.uk or fill in the form here.