Can You Do One Nice Thing?

9/29/2009

This past week, my daughter was star of the week at pre-school.  It was her birthday week and her teachers organized one special thing to do for her each day.  She was beaming everyday after school.  On Friday, I was the "special guest" and read her favorite picture book to her class.  I must have teared up at least 5 times in my short 30 minute visit just watching her teachers treat the children in the class with such patience and kindness!  This morning, I took an extra few minutes to write a special thank you note telling them how much my daughter loves school because of them and complimented them on being such amazing and kind teachers. During pickup this afternoon, I saw one of her teachers and her eyes were filled with joy!

Giving out complements to others is just one of the ideas in the book Do One Nice Thing: Little Things You Can Do to Make the World a Lot Nicer by Author Debbie Tenzer.  The book was inspired by the Author's website DoOneNiceThing.com where she posted simple things to do each week to make the world a better place.  The ideas on her site and in her book are simple, inexpensive and easy to do.  This book is truly a feel good book! You can't help but smile reading it, especially when you turn on the news and hear nothing but sad and negative things going on.  I don't know about you, but I like to hear a little bit more about the nice things people are doing out there in this world!  And isn't niceness contagious?

This book was also an easy read.  Trust me, I am very reading challenged- often being interrupted by, "Mommy, could you get my..." or "Honey, do you know where my..."   The book is organized into different sections with over a hundred ideas of nice things to do with your friends, kids, co-workers, in your community, for the planet and all over the world.  It lists websites of charities and addresses.  

The book made me feel good about myself because many of the things in the book I realized I already do :)   I also found myself marking down pages for things I am excited to do in the future!  As a busy Mom, it's real easy to forget to go out of your way to write a thank you note or to help others in need that don't normally cross our paths.   This book is a great reminder that there are so many little things we can all do that don't take a lot of time or money that will change the lives of others.   I plan on sharing This Book: Do One Nice Thing by Debbie Tenzer with my friends and family and can't wait to try to do a little more myself to make others happy!  What kind of nice things do you do?  Is there something someone has done for you that made your day?  Tell me what you think of this website and book!  Spread the word!  DoOneNiceThing.com