You guys, I have been thinking about raising kind kids lately. I’m working on a piece about it, but today I want to say this.

Being a teacher changes you, all kids feel like your kids…forever and ever amen. Because you understand that the “naughty” ones are really never just naughty, they are usually creative, divergent thinkers. Kids who approach the world differently sometimes feel a little extra frustration trying to fit into the world of school. It can be hard and you have to bring on the love, look at them differently, find the good.

It changes my parenting because I cannot unlearn this lesson and I want my kids to see it too. So, I was lucky to chat this morning with Kate because as usual a lesson for my kids is a lesson for me (thanks to the Big Guy upstairs for making my kids my teachers). We were talking about a boy in her class she sees as naughty…let’s call him Joe. After listening to her, I asked a said this, “So, God made you and clearly you’re pretty awesome. But God made Joe and I’m pretty sure he made Joe awesome too. What if you looked at that instead? He’s having some struggles for sure. But can you think of what is awesome about Joe?”

She thought for a minute about it and named something. We then made a plan to see if she could find more good things about Joe today. With just a few words her view changed..not good kids and bad kids…just God’s awesome kids. The power of looking at people just a little differently is so great my friends.

Of course, I realized that sometimes I do this exact same thing with my kids, husband, people on the Earth. The lesson doesn’t just pertain to kids in the classroom because even as a grown up it can be hard to peek around the corner of people’s flaws to see the good. But today I am giving myself the same mission as Kate. Because raising kind kids might just be about being kind.

Happy Friday everyone! Go forth and find the good!

#kindnesswins #findthegood #godmadeusspecialandhelovesusverymuch