Kindness Counts

I was having one of those days. Pregnant and not feeling well, it just seemed like everything I tried to do wasn’t going right for me. My daughter had become accustom to days when mommy just wasn’t feeling well, and she would tell me, “It’s ok Mommy, you will feel better when the baby comes out.” But it was a long time until then, and I was doubting my ability to hold it together for several more months.

Then it was nap time, a tired mom’s favorite time of day. We did the normal routine, and I was all set to walk out of the room when my daughter called me back, “Mommy, you can take Rapunzel with you to help you feel better while you take a nap too.”

It was so out of the blue, and so beautifully caring for my three year old to offer up one of her precious “friends” to take care of mommy. I started to protest until I saw the ernest in her eyes – she really wanted to do this to help mommy. So, I took Rapunzel, gave my sweet girl a kiss and managed to shut the door behind me before my eyes filled with tears. When had my little girl gotten so big?

But more than anything else, I was proud. Today wasn’t going my way, but I must be doing something right in raising my daughter. In that moment she expressed empathy and kindness far beyond her years.

I consider myself lucky, empathy and kindness comes easily to my girl, but like all children it must constantly be encouraged. Designed to support the development of empathy in preschoolers by encouraging small acts of kindness (like my daughter’s), Sprout, the 24-hour preschool channel, recently launched “Kindness Counts.” The long-term campaign will include a series of PSAs, digital and social media components, programming tie-ins and local extensions – targeting parents of preschoolers – with the ultimate goal of logging one million acts of kindness.

In an age when bullying is becoming an increasing problem among school-aged children, Sprout hopes its campaign will help foster the empathy needed to counter this growing issue. Starting by encouraging one small act of kindness at a time, teaching preschoolers that their actions have a direct effect on others.

Families are encouraged to log their children’s acts of kindness. Add your kind act to the count and learn more at www.sproutonline.com.