Sometimes a Simple Smile is All it Takes!

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There is so much in the news about the bad kids and not enough about the good kids.

I want to tell you what happened to my grandsons due to their kindness to elderly people.

During “Children’s Moment” at church on Sunday, our Children’s Minister told the kids that when he was in the grocery store one day, he saw an elderly woman standing alone. She was waiting for the sales clerk to notice her. The minister walked up to her and said, “Hello, I hope you have a nice day.” Then the lady ran after him and said, “Young man! Thank you for speaking to me. No one ever speaks to me. I am old and people just don’t notice me.”

The Children’s Minister asked the kids what they could do to show love to elderly people. The kids suggested shoveling their sidewalks, opening doors for them, giving them big smiles and telling them to have a nice day.

After church, I took my grandsons, George & Jenson (ages 11 & 9) to lunch. We were meeting a couple of friends, but they weren’t there yet. I parked the car and the boys ran ahead to open the door for Grammy (uh, that’s me). An elderly couple walked up some distance behind me. George and Jenson continued to hold the door for them. I was inside watching. The boys put a big smile on their little faces. As the couple walked through the door, George said, “Have a nice day.” The couple smiled and thanked the boys. Then the gentleman looked at me and said, “Wow, they were sure raised with good manners.” I said, “Yes, they were! AND they are practicing what they learned at church this morning!” He said, “Well, it’s working.”

So we went in and my friends joined us. We had a fun lunch and when we were about to leave, the waitress said, “Your lunch has been taken care of because of the boys’ good manners.” We knew right away who bought our five lunches. Jenson asked where they were sitting so that he could go and give them a hug. But the waitress said that they already gone. She said that the couple said to tell us, “Have a nice day.”

Eventually, I did point out to the boys, that we don’t do nice things in order to get something in return, but every now and then it just happens.

Then I took the boys to the movies to see “Frozen.” Jenson ran out of the theater at the end of the movie and held the door with a smile until the last person exited the theater. The theater was packed, I might add!

We need to not forget the elderly people this Valentine’s Day. This is not a headliner, but there are a lot of kids trying to make a difference in our rapidly changing world. I’m sure I’m not the only proud Nana! – Cyndi 🙂

Smile Magnets are available on the Ripple Store.