You Are Beautiful

Our first act of kindness was one that I was really excited about. It focused on reminding women that they are beautiful, and that an untainted view of beauty from a 4 year old should mean more than what is covered on the front pages of magazines or scattered all over the internet. I got Bug to write "You are beautiful" on a piece of paper and I made 10 copies. We placed it in an envelope that had Hershey's Hugs and Kisses stapled to it along with a note explaining our project. Prior to us running some errands, I explained to Bug that I wanted him to keep his eyes open for women that he thought were beautiful. At first, I wasn't sure how this was going to go, as I thought maybe he would just pick out the first woman he saw. But he actually put a lot of thought into his choices and I absolutely loved seeing the excitement on his face when he found "his lady". I think this act will be one we will bring back often.

What Our Note Said

This is a random act of kindness. Our act today was to venture out and get my eldest son to find beauty among the women of this world. My son says I'm beautiful. If I'm to truly love myself, I have to believe his perception of beauty is true, honest, and unwavering. He has yet to be tainted by the media's image of beauty and he sees true beauty in you. We hope this little message has made your day that much brighter.

The other part of this act today was to get women on a broader scale to recognize their beauty...and what better way to do this than by leaving messages on mirrors. I am 100% guilty of this, as I am sure most women are. You see your reflection, and the first thing that comes to your mind is something you wish you could change about yourself...I wish my thighs were smaller, I wish that mole wasn't there, I wish my hair was longer, I wish my eyes were a different colour....etc, etc. I am hoping that with these little messages, it will make the person stop and think about something they truly love about themselves. Instead of decreasing their self-confidence, this message may seed the beginnings of self love. Not only do we need to nurture love among each other, we need to nurture love within ourselves. Every time we saw a mirror, Bug was so excited to leave our note. I think we will now have a stash of them on us at all times, so that whatever mirror we come in contact with, Bug can help remind everyone of their true beauty.

Check out our list of completed Random Acts of Kindness

Remember to check out our Website: Plant a Kiss Project

Or our Instagram: @plantakissproject

Or our Facebook Page: Plant a Kiss Project

And any random acts of kindness that is inspired by our project or your experience with ours that you'd like to share, type #plantakiss with your social media picture.

And to read about how this all came about, check out our Plant a Kiss Project Outline

Our Plant a Kiss Project

This project stemmed after reading the book, "Plant a Kiss" by Amy Krouse Rosenthal. The message was so powerful to me, and it is a lesson I try to instill in my kids everyday. It starts out with this little girl planting a kiss to see what happens. Much to her surprise, it blossoms into something magical and she has this brilliant idea of sharing it around the world. When what she has assumed is the last of this kiss has been given away, she is a bit disheartened. She returns to the original place of planting, only to find this kiss has exponentially grown into something that can be shared by all. 

I want to teach my kids that this world needs more love. Our world needs the thoughtfulness, kindness and loveliness that comes from thinking of others. I want my children to nurture love, to help it grow and continue to succeed in the world. My goal is for my boys to grow up getting immense joy out of doing acts for others, and in turn, helping everyone elses' hearts to reach out to loved ones but more importantly strangers. My goal for this project is to help people around our community, city, (maybe one day the world) to connect with each other. To feel compassion for strangers...to spend just a few moments each day stepping outside of our busy lives to bring a little bit of joy to someone else.

To quote a friend of mine, "there is not enough cheesiness in our world". Let's teach our children to be kind, to nurture love and in turn help the world be a better place.

How We Got Started

We are a crafty family, so I thought the best way to bring about this project is to create something my son can actually "plant a kiss" in. I just bought a cheap terra cotta flower pot from Dollarama and we drizzled acrylic paint over it until the whole thing was covered. Then I filled it with plastic filler beads to act as our "soil".

Before bed on the night preceding our random act of kindness, I get Bug to plant his kiss. Then by morning, a flower is sitting in the pot, with a note wrapped around it's stem. Bug was really thrilled to see this flower sitting there...even if it wasn't real. The note will give us our task we will fulfill.

 

Follow our story:

Plant a Kiss Website - to see what we've been up to

Plant a Kiss Facebook Page - to share your experiences with our Plant a Kiss project or your own

Look for us on Instagram 

plantakissproject@gmail.com

or #plantakiss for us to see your random acts of kindness.