12 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 9

When I was pregnant with my oldest child, I read multiple parenting books. One of the main concepts that stuck with me was that praising your child will promote positive behavior. Before I had children I thought this was common sense and easy to do. However, I have found that it's much easier to focus on our children's negative behavior, so at the end of the day I find a few things to praise our children for. With that in mind we decided to try positive words with strangers.

I wrote some positive messages on Post-it notes. Some of these messages included: smile, Happy Thanksgiving, and have a good day. The boys taped the Post-it messages to driver's windows in a grocery store parking lot. The Post-its weren't sticky enough to stay on the window without a little tape, especially in the wind and cold. My first idea was to put the messages under the windshield wipers; however, the boys couldn't reach the wipers. I also thought it was best to keep the boys from touching stranger's vehicles.

The boys were so anxious to give out the messages that they just handed them to people getting in and out of their vehicles. Some of the messages went on the vehicle windows, but it was more fun to have them hand delivered. The boys were cautious and a little shy, but they eventually got the hang of it. All the messages were well received. A kind word is enough to change someone's day.