kindness – Bits of Love Creations

Loving on Your People…

Loving on your people… even after they move out? Well, yes!

If you know me, you know that my kids moving out on their own will not deter me from being the quirky, over-the-top mom. So my oldest moved out this past fall and while it’s been an adjustment, it’s actually been a fairly smooth transition. He only lives about 15-20 minutes away and we’ve seen him more often than I thought we would, so thats good! Lol!

So each year, I place the conversation hearts I’ve made on the bedroom doors of my kids. These hearts are made of colored construction paper, with words written in sharpie. Every year I go through my stack of hearts and pick words/phrases for each of them. And when I think of new words, I make new hearts to add to the stack! On the 14 days leading up to and including Valentine’s Day, I tape a heart on their bedroom doors. A word/phrase that is a quality I see in them. Something I’m proud of, something I admire, and something I respect. It’s my little extra way of showing them in “the month of love” just how special they are to me.

If you’ve been around the blog for a bit. you’ve no doubt read about this here.

But this year, with my son no longer here, I wondered what I would do? He lives on his own for now so I figured, why not keep the tradition by sending him the hearts I would put on his bedroom door if he were here? So that’s exactly what I’ve done!

I took 14 envelopes, and the 14 hearts with words I’ve chosen this year and I hand delivered them to him at his new place with the instructions to open an envelope each day starting with February 1st. He was suprised and not quite sure what I was up to, but it didn’t take him long to figure it out!

My original plan was to send the envelopes in a box with a few little things for V-Day, but since his dad’s birthday is the same day, I will undoubtedly see him so I opted to save the postage and just give him the envelopes for now.

It may seem silly, over-the-top, or strange to some; but I don’t care! Lol! Showing the people in my life how much I love them and how special they are is important to me and it seems like the world could use a little more of the little things to show we care.

What’s even better about this whole scenario? He’s actually hanging them on his bedroom door in his condo and was happy to send me a picture when I asked. I cannot tell you how happy that makes my heart. Through good and bad, the bond I’ve created with my kids will still always be the most important job I’ve ever done!

File_000 — The pic he sent me of his door… my heart is full!

Take an Interest

One of the things I always did while raising my kids was really try to intentionally take an interest in things that interested them. So many times it’s easy to put them in a sport or activity we did as kids. Or introduce them to a hobby we are interested in. That is perfect in the sense that they won’t (or we won’t) know what they are interesteed in until we give them those options. That is the best way to start. I did that with all of mine.

Sports, choir, drama club, or anything else, we encouraged them to find something they enjoyed. I made it my mission to take an active interest in what made them happy. I may not have understood it, it may not have been my cup of tea… but if it was important to them, I made sure to show an interest.

Fast foreward to now… they are all grown, young adults if you will, and I feel I have a very strong relationship with each one of them. So carrying over from their childhood are hobbies and interests that they each enjoy that I have learned to enjoy too, if for nothing else than just spending quality time with each of them.

So we have decided to do something fun!

My son Jacob, likes burgers. He always has! He could literally eat a burger every night of the week. We have talked about Mother/Son dates to try some of the “best burgers” in our hometown of St. Louis. So that’s what we are doing! He has coined our little adventures, ‘Burger Bounce’, and he will be writing much of the blog/review. Those that know my son know that he has a dry sense of humor and very eclectic approach to writing. This should prove to be entertaining at the least. Be on the look out for the Burger Bounce coming to the blog very soon!

So with my older daughter, Megan… she and I have a mutual love for coffee. Her’s is definitely a stronger love than mine, though as I am happy with my plain coffee and a little creamer at home in the mornings. She, on the other hand, could drink black coffee all day and even throw in a specialty coffee from a local cafe. We will be having our time together that she has named ‘Coffee Crawl’. Specifically visiting local coffee houses and those that give back to the community. Look for the “Coffee Crawl’ also coming to the blog soon!

And then there’s my baby, Mallory. She is still in college so she isn’t home much, but when she is we have discovered that we share a strong love of… shopping! I swear that girl owns more shoes than most. We love to shop the deals and sometimes just have fun window shopping and laughing until it hurts. We don’t get to shop together often throughout the school year, but when we do and find good deals, we will be sure to share those in our ‘Fashion Finds’ blog posts.

I am excited that this is something they love to do with me. To me there really isn’t anything more special than having found wonderful friends in the young adults you’ve raised. I know, super corny…but that’s me! And it’s so true. My relationships with them mean the world!

Look for our adventures coming soon! Until then,

Love on Your People

So we are almost to February 2020! How did that happen? January went by so fast!

With February comes the threat of more winter weather (especially here in the Midwest, am I right?), and Valentine’s Day. Mostly a commercialized holiday of sorts that promotes love and being in love. But it’s not just for that!

It’s a perfect way to celebrate those in your life.

So the past year or so I have seen the posts all over social media platforms about the cut out hearts on the door of your child’s bedroom. This is actually something I have done for years! I actually did it for my husband a time or two (his birthday also happens to be Valentine’s Day), but I’m not even sure he noticed lol!

I do always do it for my kids though. Even when they were away at college! As long as they live in my house, this is an inexpensive, heartfelt way I can express my love and admiration for them. And they seem to look forward to seeing all the hearts even if it is a picture sent to them at school on Valentine’s Day after it’s complete!

Each year I do this, I really try to think about each of my kids. What they’ve accomplished this past year, their triumphs, and their struggles. I choose words that I feel really describe them in my eyes.

Sometimes they are the same words as the year before, sometimes they all have some of the same words or phrases, but all are relevant to them and their life and character.

This is a neat way to express these affirmations to them. Who doesn’t feel better about themselves and life in general when someone (especially someone who loves them) takes time to express their feelings about them. I know I would!

Try this. Try this with your kids, your roommate, your significant other, or even a co-worker at the office. A little act of love and kindness can really make someone’s day!

5 Things You Can Do TODAY To Change The World

This quote from Steve Jobs is one of my favorites. I mean, I’ve always thought of myself as a little bit crazy. I’ve also thought what I do with my life can change the world. I haven’t ever told anyone that little tidbit… but its always been there. I think maybe that’s where my love for volunteering and being there for people comes from. Seriously. I feel a constant drive to be there for others, to volunteer my time, to see if I can make a situation better for someone. Because if I can, then my day is made! Of course that’s not to say I’m perfect, I’m actually pretty far from it, aren’t we all? I have my moments of cattiness and frustration, just like everyone else. But my heart is most full when I can be there for someone through a rough time, give sound advice (although I don’t always follow it myself), or just generally make someone happy. Shouldn’t we all do that? Make others happy? Help make the world a better place, with kindness?

That’s it! Super simple! There are a million other ways we can spread kindness and change the world. These are just a few. I’ll end with another favorite quote: “You must be the change you want to see in the world.” ~ Mahatma Ghandi

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