Kindness...

From a young age I was taught to be kind.  To show kindness.  I guess I assumed most children were/will be taught from a young age how to treat others.
Today, I learned a difficult lesson.  Unfortunately, I learned this lesson while watching an unkind act unfold in front of me.  My son was the person to bare the brunt of it.  This was heartbreaking.  It made me angry.  It made me want to snatch up the kids and tell them a thing or two.
Landon had his meet and greet at school today.  He starts the first grade on Monday.  He is very excited. He approached two girls he knew from last school year.  They are both his age as well.  He said "hi" and asked if the girls remembered him. Both were rather rude and condescending for 6 year-olds.  Instead of being polite or humoring him, they mocked him.  A few minutes later I saw one of the girls purposely shove Landon and told him in an ugly tone to go away.
Needless to say, I was shocked at this rude, mean, and just unkind act.  Landon had his feelings hurt.  I asked him to brush it off so the girls get satisfaction in seeing him upset.


It made me ask, "what are kids being taught these days"?  If parents can not, will not, or do not practice or teach anything else when it comes to others, please teach your children to be kind.  Kindness can go a long way.  No one deserves to be treated unkindly for any reason.  
I am hoping Landon's first week of school goes better than his meet and greet!  Hopefully someone, some day will teach those little girls a lesson or at least give them a dose of their own medicine so they know how it feels.  Maybe then they will think twice about being so unkind to another person!

Off my soap box....moving on!

On Turning 6...

Landon will be 6 years old tomorrow!  Time has flown, but we have loved watching him through the infant years, the toddler years, the pre-school years, and now we embark on a new journey of the elementary school years!
Luckily, we are in a grade "A" school system.  One of the bright spots about moving was the promise of a better school system than what we were facing with Memphis City/Shelby County schools.   Landon is looking forward to starting school in a couple of weeks.  We hope he feels the same when he has homework each night!
Landon was able to celebrate his Birthday with my parents last weekend.  He got an awesome set of bongos from my parents and a Florida Marlins hat from Uncle Doug.  
He has asked for a cookie cake decorated with Super Mario Brothers characters.  He calls them Super Mario Bros.  For his birthday dinner he has asked for pizza.
We haven't planned a party, but thought a nice day at the beach this weekend would be a good way to celebrate my baby boy turning 6!!! Hopefully the weather will cooperate. 
Landon has turned in to such a helpful child.  He is kind and polite (most of the time).  He loves his baby sister and is proud to say he is a big brother.  He has learned how to swim and is quite thelittle fish! He loves to read as well.  He has almost learned to tie his shoes solo, which is a big deal!
We look forward to what God has planned for Landon!!!

Tradition

Like most people I know, I grew up with certain traditions in my family.  For as long as I can remember, Christmas Eve meant I received a new pair of PJ's.  Now, we give our children special PJ's on Christmas Eve.
Growing up my family would spend our summer vacation in Destin, Florida.  Most of my teen and early college years we would all make the trip to Destin to spend a week at the condo and soak up the Florida sun. Our trips were usually always the last week in July.  This meant we would celebrate my dad's birthday while on vacation. 
On our way back home we would stop in Pensacola to visit an aunt and uncle.  Our tradition was to stop and eat at this little place called Flounders.  My dad loves it and so do we. They have the best po-boys and a triple layer key lime pie! It makes my mouth water a little to think of it.
My parents left Coral Springs yesterday afternoon.  We had lunch together at one of our favorite new south Florida places, Flannigan's in Deerfield Beach.   My brother loved the dolphin fingers so much he ordered another serving of them (note: we do not eat Flipper, this is the dolphin fish). It was sad to have to say good-bye to them again.  It was very difficult last October and then again at Christmas.  It was no easier yesterday.
Today is my dad's birthday.  And as the tradition goes, on their way home to Memphis they stopped in Pensacola this afternoon to have lunch at Flounders with my aunt and uncle.  He had an oyster po-boy and shared a piece of key lime pie with everyone.  I hate I missed out on our family tradition.  Happy Birthday daddy! I miss you already!

Family

My parents and brother are in town this week.  The kids are loving it and my parents are just soaking up every minute they have with them.  We have had yummy meals and special time to spend with everyone.  Tomorrow night the kids will get royally spoiled for a few days.  I can only imagine they won't want to come home when Saturday rolls around!  Friday we hope to spend on a boat cruising around the ocean, drop anchor and play in the shallows, maybe even snorkel!
I have missed my family probably more than realized.  We haven't seen them since Christmas. It is so nice to know, at least for a few days, they are just a short 10 minute car trip away! Sure beats the 17+ hour haul we made in December!