This summer, we had the incredible opportunity to take a family vacation to Disney World. We had been planning and saving for this trip for about a year and a half. We did a ton of research on how to save a little money here and there. One of the ways we read about, to save a ton of money, is to order glow sticks in bulk. You can carry these into the parks, and then you don’t have to buy the ridiculously overpriced spinning glow gadgets. We took this advice, and did just that.
As much as I loved Disney, I truly loved every second of it, it could quickly become the land of “give me, give me, give me.” I want this toy, I need these ears, I must eat as much popcorn as humanly possible….and the list goes on. My six year old son was not an exception. He was given a spending budget, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t try to buy everything in sight. (PS, putting your child on an established spending budget BEFORE you get to the land of the mouse is a wonderful blessing. It makes it a HECK of an easier way to say no.)
As the first night show approached, my mother-in-law surprised my son with glow sticks. He was so excited. Now, the glow sticks came in bundles of 20 I believe. My mother-in-law left them in their hard tubes they were delivered in so they wouldn’t break and glow during the day. Genius idea on her part! This did, however, mean that my son and daughter had all the glowing pieces of plastic they could ever want or need.
After we all put on our glow bracelets, and Bryson put on a few of his, I could see the wheels in his head start to turn. Completely unprompted, he asked his Grammy if he could hand out his extras to the kids around us that didn’t have any glowing goodies. My jaw dropped. I think all of ours did. Here is a six year old boy who didn’t have to share. He didn’t have to give. Yet, he looked around, and decided to spread joy.
What an incredible moment. My heart…and my tears….burst with pride. And then, I watched as my brave, strong, sweet, kind, incredible six year old…walked through the crowd…and gave the kids around him glow necklaces. I heard thank yous. I heard him say you’re welcome. I saw other kids smile because he showed them kindness. I saw Bryson’s huge smile as he made others happy. I saw the look on adults’ faces as they watched this little boy gift their little one with a small gift. And it was the coolest thing I have ever seen.
Now, we went to other night shows. We didn’t encourage him to keep up the tradition…we didn’t have to. He actually couldn’t wait to hand out his extra glow necklaces. At one point, he gave the ones he was wearing away too. We encouraged him to keep one, and he did, but not without arguing a little about it haha. Who knew I would be arguing with my child about keeping one of his glow necklaces in the land of “give me.”
Why aren’t we all like this? I’m not saying we all have to give items……but why can’t we all give smiles? Kind words? Encouragement? Why can’t we do random acts of kindness? Why can’t we support those around us? The answer is….WE CAN. YOU CAN.
My six year old reminded me about a lot of things that week. I will forever carry the memory of him walking through the crowd, and giving, just because he wanted to. Because that is who he is…..and that is who we all should be. So go out and be kind. You never know who could use a little kindness today.
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