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TwitterRandom acts of kindness always make me smile.
With my oldest away at sleepovers on a recent weekend, I decided it would be nice to spend a little quality time with my other two children. Austin, 6, and Jaycee, soon to be 2, loved having Mom’s extra attention.
We went to Bounce U, and I actually got into the inflatable boxing ring, hiked up the slide, then cascaded down and conquered the obstacle course. We also saw “Shrek Ever After” at the dollar theater, while munching popcorn and Sour Patch Kids and slurping down fountain pop. Austin even got to sleep in Mom and Dad’s bed, which comforted him since he has rarely slept without his older brother in the same room.
But perhaps the best thing occurred when we were least expecting it.
I am normally not a garage sale shopper. But this weekend was different. It was special. As Jaycee napped, I took Austin by the hand and we wandered a few houses up our block to a couple of sales I drove by earlier in the day.
At garage sale number one, the woman had two interactive Elmo dolls. One was the hokey pokey kind and the other was a pizza-tossing singing kind. I chose the latter. I only had $10 and she was selling each for $5. While she and I talked about her family’s plans to move to Colorado Springs (jealous!), Austin kept picking things out and saying, “I bet Jaycee would like this. Can we get Jaycee that?” She was really impressed by how much he cared for his little sister. I gently reminded him that we had already bought something for Jaycee.
At garage sale number two, we bought a beaded jewelry kit for my Oreo filling Austin. He absolutely loved it and had made himself, Jaycee and me some beaded jewelry within 30 minutes after arriving home.
So the day crept into the evening and I was busy folding clothes in my bedroom when I heard Austin yell out, “MOM! Come here!”
I thought he broke his necklace or something because he sounded very excited. When I went into our living room, he was pointing to the floor-to-ceiling window next to our front door. The blinds were already pulled about a quarter of the way up. Jaycee was hunched over, staring at what awaited her on the other side of the glass. It was the hokey pokey Elmo. The woman must have not sold it, so she left it for our kids to find.
Jaycee kept pointing at it (even when we got it into the house) saying, “Elmo. Outside. Elmo. Outside.” She was so happy that Elmo decided to walk right up to our house to be with her.
Women are amazing. Dudes would never do something so sweet for a total stranger. I have since seen Mary Karen (I know her name now) walking in the neighborhood and it turns out she is a fellow blogger. Check out her blogs here and here. Trust me … you won’t be disappointed.
Heidi Woodard is married with three children. She works full-time.
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Posted by: Cat K on 09/02/2010 @ 1:17 pm:
I love moments like these. It really goes to show there is good in this world!
Posted by: TillyBell on 09/02/2010 @ 1:27 pm:
Teared up. SO sweet!
Posted by: Melissa on 09/02/2010 @ 1:40 pm:
That is awesome! I love this story.
Posted by: Judy D. on 09/02/2010 @ 2:39 pm:
Another reason to have hope for humanity! Thanks for the reminder.
Posted by: carolee on 09/02/2010 @ 3:57 pm:
Someone who truly believed that it is indeed better to give than to receive. And you and your children were the lucky recipients of this random act of kindness. How fun!!!
Posted by: Anne on 09/02/2010 @ 4:42 pm:
We had that Elmo – just wait a couple weeks and you may be taking those batteries out after hearing Elmo do the Hokey Pokey a million times!! Good luck.
Posted by: Jessica H. on 09/02/2010 @ 4:56 pm:
Love stories like this. If only more people did random acts of kindness EVERY day, think of the world we’d live in, the example we’d set for our kids, and the message we send to other people.
Posted by: Heidi W on 09/02/2010 @ 7:16 pm:
I have the privilege of taking part in United Way’s Day of Caring today. My coworkers and I are making tie fleece blankets to benefit Project Linus. I hope these acts of kindness benefit numerous children. If you haven’t heard of Project Linus, check them out at omahaprojectlinus.org. Thank you all so much for commenting on this article. I had hoped for such a wonderful reaction to what we experienced.
Posted by: Michelle on 09/02/2010 @ 7:18 pm:
What a sweet story. Elmo teaching life lessons on streets other than Sesame!
Posted by: MK on 09/03/2010 @ 8:21 pm:
This story is so fun to read after having lived it! Let me say that your own kindness, and the sweetness of your little boy looking out for his sister, inspired Elmo’s visit. It was a fun thing to do, and I chuckled all the way back to my car imagining what your little one’s would think to find Elmo peeking through the blinds!
All the comments above are more examples of what truly sweet people there are in this world. And lucky you! They are your readers!
I’m so happy to see such loving souls visit both my wisdomsecho.blogspot.com and my MK.Meredith.blogspot.com
Thankyou Heidi!
MaryKaren