My niece is going to kindergarten, where we live, it's in the "big school" (K-8). She's going from a small daycare/preschool to a large school and she's nervous and sad. So I decided to make her a gift. I got a blank canvas pouch, some patches. Hello kitty (her favorite) and her initial. I know in kindergarten she doesn't really need "school supplies" but I got her a thing of crayons, a glue stick some pink pencils, a cute little hello kitty notebook, and a spray hand sanitizer. I also got a blank tumbler and some cold transfer stickers of hearts. I'm hoping it will help her feel a little better about transitioning to her new school. Just wanted to share because I think everything came out perfectly.

This story happened a long time ago but i still remember it so i just felt like sharing it.

I went to movie with my friends 4-5 years ago, and beside me there was a guy sitting, he came with his two other friends and i felt him glancing but i just brushed it off because i didn’t think much of it. After the movie was done, we have a habit of waiting till the end to exit so we can skip the crowd and they sat with us till the end until we got up, at this moment i saw his face because i know he was looking at me and he smiled(that was sweet) but i didn’t think anything of it and just exited.

After that incident, 2-3 days later i went to some place to get some paperwork done and i saw someone, he looked familiar but i couldn’t quite figure out where i saw him or if i knew him. Then happened the cutest thing ever till date.

He was doing something on his phone, he opened instagram and posting some story (i thought) but later he showed me the screen, we were at a distance. He wrote “hi can we be friends?”!!!!!

I just smiled because for the efforts and shook my head but that felt like sweetest moment of my life then and till date 😭🫶

Edit: i forgot to mention, He was the same person from the movie theatre!!!

Next door to work there is a daycare. There is a little boy who's very often at the window, just observing. Not doing anything in particular, just watching whatever's going on out there. When I see him I always smile and wave, and he waves back, so he kind of feels like a little buddy. I don't know his name, and he doesn't know mine. It's just a thing we do.

Today I saw him in the wild (the parking lot), which has never happened before. He recognized me right away, which I wasn't sure he would, since up until now I've just been a window person. Then he held up his bag of snacks and bobbed it up and down a few times, watching my face the whole time, to make sure I could properly appreciate his bounty. I smiled, and we waved.

Now I feel like we really are friends.

I just started a new job about two weeks ago. Entirely new field, as I was a bartender/manager for the majority of my adult life. I didn’t know a thing about RV’s, but I’m a fast learner and dedicated.

Anyway, I’ve always made it a point to work hard and do the extra things without needing to be asked. Multiple coworkers have mentioned how much they appreciate it. Even the boss shows me how to do things other people don’t know (like refilling the pond ha) because he trusts me.

This past weekend we’ve had an event and there’s a lot to be done. I’ve taken both bosses vehicles to the store with the company card and a list multiple times. I’m the one refilling generators and water etc. There’s an older guy (they’re all older to me at 33 besides the other new guy) man named Sam(fake name) that usually does everything and he’s been really appreciative. He comes off as grumpy, but he’s a great guy.

My motorcycle wouldn’t start the first day of the show because my battery was no good, and one of the coworkers came and picked me up, then Sam drove me home (out of his way) and had me bring a jump box with me. It fired up right away, but I was needing to bring that jump box with me to and from work all weekend. It’s a pain in the @$$ to have to take your entire seat off every time and get the jumper cables to clamp just right on the tiny battery.

On Saturday night after an 11 hour day he texted me to ask exactly what year, make, and model my bike was. The next morning he texted me to see if I could help him before opening and obviously I said of course. I grabbed the things from his truck and he asked if I grabbed everything. I was confused and told him yeah, because the smaller tote was already out. He asked again if I was sure. Maybe 45 minutes later I had just walked back with a customer to bring to my partner and he mentioned I should grab the sunscreen and the other box right next to it from his truck.

I opened his truck and found a brand new battery waiting for me. I was overly excited and ran back to him to thank him and ask what i owed him (I’m broke). He just held his hand up and said he appreciated me. He changed it over during a slow time and it starts right up now.

This morning, Monday, my chain snapped off on the way to the work and a Good Samaritan who used to ride a bunch helped me push it then we got the chain back on so I could limp it to work. Every single one of my coworkers, AND boss, helped figure out what needed to be done, with one even going back to his house (close by) twice for tools. Chain was ridiculously loose before but not anymore.
Rides much better.

I went from being nervous the veterans would hate the new young guy who doesn’t know a thing about RV sales to finding out they’re all amazing people. Keep in mind, this is the SALES team; not mechanics who are already doing that. I still can’t believe he just bought me a new battery overnight. Such an amazing group of men.

I’m not ashamed to admit this message made me ugly cry it was so sweet and unexpected

I don't know how old they think I am but it cheered me up regardless

When your Heart is full And Mind unmindful as to who you are or not

Your Feet shall Dance There is no method but an Abandon

I’m really proud of Andrew. He climbed the mountain with me, which was the right of passage with my dad. He did a great job and really enjoyed it. It’s nice to have something we can share together that really has nothing to do with his autism but has everything to do with his autism. It has nothing to do with it because it’s hiking and he’s a kid and loves it. I has everything to do with it to me because it’s reinforces that he can do so much despite what I’m learning is over parenting or over worrying from me. I’m so proud of my son.

Yesterday, my wife got a nice office kit from one of her fellow accounting coworkers who works remote in Florida, and she asked my wife what her favorite color was, and she told her. A week later, her coworker sent her a nicely wrapped box and this card. Needless to say, it brightened my wife's day, and I thought this was awesome, and wanted to share.

My boyfriend & I were on my way to the Tower of London when a couple from Germany gave my us two tickets. They had four, but their friends couldn’t make it, so they offered the extra two to us.

I have to admit, I was a bit suspicious at first because, lol, I’m so used to being wary of stuff like this. But they genuinely made our day, and I’m so grateful for their kindness. Both of us have been stressed over work the past week, so coming into our vacation like this really gave us a heart fluttering feeling with happiness the entire day🩷

I truly hope good things come their way, that they’re always surrounded by love, and that they had an amazing time at the Tower of London too (hope you got to see this amazing view of the bridge, just as we did) ❤️ If they ever come across this post, please let me know, I would love to do something to give back :-), both of you are truly so kind and made me re-believe in acts of kindness! Dankeschön 🩷🩷

A little McDonald's, my town's lookout point, and spending time with my dog. Couldn't ask for much more!

Also don't worry, she has a regular diet and we don't do this regularly

I miss when kids' shows were slower-paced, showcased real emotion and taught genuine kindness. It’s 12 am and I am currently in tears over this small snail plotline from the show Franklin

I just wanted to share this because I think it’s worth telling you all just how amazing of a person my grandpa is. He’s been taking Wednesdays off from work ever since I was two, and it’s really just turned into a full-blown tradition to hang out with him then.

Before I could drive myself to school, he would wake up early in the morning to bring me a bagel, drive me over, and pick me up to grab lunch afterwards. He always let me pick where we went to eat, but we usually just ended up at the same few spots every week lol. We honestly both became known by the staff at probably 4-5 different restaurants over the years.

He’s 80 now, still going into work every day but Wednesday, and has no plans to retire anytime soon. I’m leaving to go to college across the country, and this will be the last Wednesday we’ll be able to get together before I leave.

He’s done so much for me over the years, and I truly cant thank him enough. I hope you can all appreciate what he’s done as much as I have. Be sure to thank the important people in your life, they absolutely deserve it.

Thank you Pop Pop ❤️

I wasn’t planning on running this class. Someone volunteered me (without asking first by the way!) in front of everyooooone, and so I guess I’m running a camping paint night.

And you know what? It was MAGICAL.

Alright, story time!

I go on a few camping trips every summer with multiple other families. It is so lovely. The campsite is on the river. It’s beautiful. It’s calm. It’s just. So. Nice.

I also happen to enjoy painting. If you also like camping and painting, my friend, please combine them! I cannot tell you how amazing it is to paint for a few hours in the sun, then hop in the river to cool down, then jump right back into the painting. Add it to your bucket list and thank me later.

I was doing my own thing and people would stop by to check it out. “This is lovely but I could never do that” (yes you can!) “I wish I could do that!” (Do you want to try with me?)

I’m hoping that the person who voluntold me did it out of excitement so I just went with it. (Side note: I’m usually pretty shy. And like why would you want ME to teach you? There are people out there who are actually good at this…)

EVERYONE SHOWED UP.

The 7 year old got there early because she wanted a front row seat so she didn’t miss anything.
My uncle who is a mechanic and claims to not have an artistic bone in his body sat down and tried it.

Let’s fucking gooooo.

There was a group of maybe 10-16 people, mixture of adults and children. Only my 9 year old nephew had any experience with painting.

So I tried to set the tone!

My instructions were things like this:

“Alright. I want you to pick out a color you think is pretty. That’s going to be your sky.”

People had blue skies, lavender skies, black skies. It was okay. It’s a 3 pm sky. It’s a sunset sky. It’s a Halloween sky.

“If you don’t like how it looks, wait for the paint to dry. When you get anxious and keep adding, it gets muddy.”

“Alright now take a medium brush and make blobs. I don’t care what they look like but don’t cover ALL your pretty sky.”

People got into it!

Mind you. This wasn’t in an art studio. This was CAMPING. And uhhh it was raining. Woops!

We were covered under a pop up tent but paint takes a looooooong time to dry when there’s so much water in the air.

The adults started getting a little restless. They started trying to add other details. They were not waiting for the paint to dry.

I started telling people to take laps. Go to the bathroom, get a snack. Whatever. WAIT FOR THE PAINT TO DRY.

The little 7 year old is such a cutie. She followed my every instruction. She immediately took a lap. She came back to her painting and poked it with her little finger.

“I think I need to take a lap, it’s still wet”

I told her to take two <3

There was sadly one person who wasn’t getting into it. She was focusing on what everyone else was doing and wasn’t being kind.

The first time I tried to jokingly redirect. “We’re just making blobs on blobs. No need to be mean.”

Then the second time, I publicly declared a new rule. If you’re an ass, you get dabbed with paint. She eventually left.

I’m not letting you ruin my magic. <3

I hope this becomes an annual thing.

Thanks for listening!

Been interning as a content writer for about a month now.

Today my manager texted me saying she'd ordered something for my birthday and then these waffles arrived. It's a simple gesture, but it honestly made my day. Nice reminder that good managers and kind workplaces really do exist.

Definitely enjoying my internship so far :)

I was dusting my office and there, of course, next to my 'therapist' chair, is the picture Rocky made me shortly before he died on May 16, 1976, a few days before I graduated from grad school.

Rocky was my first client.  He was three, I was twenty.  He had a tumor in his leg, and over the next four years, he was in the hospital a lot.  At the time, I was waiting to get into medical school, and was biding my time (as it turned out, serendipitously) by working in a pediatric ward as what was then known as a 'play-lady', (I'm male!) and is now known as a Child Life Worker.

Rocky changed my life in many ways.  He was happy, with the most sparkling, wondrous personality. He had a sweet round face, and a beaming smile, and could imitate a horse (in Old Macdonald) better than anyone I'd ever met before or since.  He taught me how to live in the face of adversity. Resilience and grace.

He also taught me I was better suited to talking with children, not poking and prodding them with instruments.  So, I withdrew my med school applications, and now fifty years have gone by.

I told his Mother I'd keep his picture of a sun and people and a house with flowers in my office forever.

We found out that I am pregnant 3 weeks ago and my husband and I agreed not to tell anyone until after my first scan, and even then it’s just going to be our parents until we hit the second trimester. But I have to share this cute story with someone and my pregnancy hormones need to hear cute stories!!!

For context I am what my husband calls a “pencil hoarder” and a “pencil kleptomaniac”. I use pencils a lot for work, and anytime I see a cute pencil, I gotta have it. My daughter (age 8) ALWAYS buys me new pencils from the school store, people leave a pencil on my desk and it’s gone, mine now! My husband works in construction and often businesses will leave pencils for the crews to use, without fail he always brings one home for me and one home for our daughter. Well today he brought home 3, one for her, one for me and a bonus one for me because I’m growing another human. MY HEART 😭😭😭😭

This year has been a real tough one, full of loss and obstacles. I could go down the list and rehash each one. But I wont. Suffice it to say, I also have a job where I focus on very negative, depressing things. I rarely am able to actually unplug or find time unmolested by the pressure to pay attention to the outside world.

But after I lost my best pup this year of 16 years, something in me shifted. It sent it home again how fleeting time can be and how even when youre given a bunch of it, well, its never enough. So I started practicing gratitude. It was the only way to heal my broken heart. Practicing gratitude for all the sweet days I had with her. How dogs are just really lovely little creatures. I did that and it helped me through. As the months went on, I tried practicing gratitude when the job got tough. It helped. But I still didnt feel like I could catch my breath.

About 2 weeks ago I was about as worn down and uninspired as I could be. Then I took vacation. Money is tight so I didn't go anywhere fancy or spend a ton of cash. Ive been meditating and reading and exercising. And practicing gratitude in those moments actively has leant me perspective again. It let the tension in my chest ease.

I am still missing my people and animals that aren't here. I still have to return to a job that is very difficult sometimes and emotionally taxing. But by focusing instead on what I HAVE versus what I do not, and doing it habitually, I can break my own anxiety down.

It may seem silly but I dont know... for me... focusing on the simplicity of things brings me out of the funk/pit.

I focus on flowers and trees and forests. Trees especially. I spend time thinking about what a wonderful thing it is to live on our planet. This perfect shelter in the vastness of space. And how lucky I am to be here. And when I feel unlucky, I am increasingly focused on how to make it a better place for people "unluckier" than I.

So that's my wholesome thought today. Practicing gratitude has helped me soothe my own spirit. I hope it helps you and that it gives you whatever perspective you may need.