Written by By Gretchen Clarice Minchew of Clarice’s Book Nook and The Perspective of a Suburban Housewife

You never know just how much of a responsibility children are until you have them. They are one of the most precious things in this life, and yet, they are also one of the scariest. Before you have any children, you are free to do mostly what you want. If you want to go to Wal-mart to buy the latest Twilight movie that is coming out at midnight, you can. It may be detrimental to your sleep and your spouse might not be very happy, but the point is that you can. When children come into the picture, this is no longer true. For the most part, you don’t let the kids out of your sight, much less run off to Wal-mart at midnight.

When I had my oldest, Susan, I started realizing just how big of a deal it is to raise your children well. After the initial shock of no sleep ever and buying more diapers than I could count, it started dawning on me that I was going to be her first teacher in life. Everything I did she was going to notice. Susan was going to look to me to know what was right and what was wrong. Whatever I did, she was probably going to do too. Small children are like little parrots. They mimic a lot. Naturally, this type of realization hit me like a bolt of lightning. It is a scary thought for many of us after we start thinking about our pasts. So the teaching began. You teach them to pick their toys up, to use the potty, to speak so you can actually understand their gibberish. But one of the most important things you can teach them is to be kind.

I waited tables at a pizza place for several years, and I saw so many people who were having a bad day, or who were just grumpy. I generally don’t let grumpy people bother me. I remind myself that these people might need a little smile, a little cheer. Maybe they just needed a little kindness. And after all of those years doing my best to be kind to people, even though sometimes I was feeling rather mean, it has somehow rubbed off on Susan. She is very kind to everyone around her, and she is very friendly. We were at Wal-mart a few days ago and went through the side door instead of the automatic one. She saw that there was a lady coming and wanted to hold the door open for her, although she was still several feet away. In fact, she ended up holding the door for four or five people. And all I heard were the comments of how nice she was and how you just didn’t see that anymore. It’s a shame too. It’s a very important lesson we could all learn from.

I have a small sign in my kitchen that says “Kindness Matters”. And it really does. It may be such a small thing, but it can make such a big difference.

I live in Arkadelphia, Arkansas with my two wonderful daughters and my loving husband. I love to write and took up blogging this year. It has become my new passion.