Empathy

As many of you know, I'm working hard on trying to bring up boys who are good people.  Kindness, respect, empathy...  it's important to me.  So, at dinner we were talking about "filling buckets".  It's a children's book about being kind to others and how you "fill buckets" when you are kind and if you're not nice (a bully) you are a bucket dumper.  It also says when you are nice to others, it can fill your own bucket.

So, I give the boys an example of how I filled someone's bucket today.  About this frail old man who was shaking and could not see - and all he wanted was to put some toothpaste on his toothbrush.  I pass his room and I saw him trying to do it and about 3 minutes later I notice he was still there trying to do the same thing.  So, I tell them how I help him and how grateful he is for this simple task.  Minutes later, we're talking about other stuff and Zach starts to cry.  I ask him what's wrong and he says, the story about the old man made him sad.  I just about died - he was feeling raw, true empathy.  It is amazing how these kids surprise me and make me proud to see that he has the ability to show compassion.  I hope this turns into a change in his behavior for the positive...

A lesson to anyone out there... be kind to others and see how many buckets you can fill a day.  (Sorry, I had to get on my soapbox!)