Do something nice for someone everyday

.....some weeks I may go for a few days with nothing to note, but then will do a bunch of nice things on one day. So I think it evens out. I guess I’m pretty nice after all :) I’m going to count this done.

One question, though. Can someone tell me the difference between doing an ordinary nice thing and Paying it forward?

1. Stepped up @ took on a job my son’s class room mom didn’t want

2. Drove home a friend of my son who was stranded at the practice field without a ride.

3. Retrieved & delivered the folding chairs, coffee cup & coloring book that my friend left on the soccer sidelines after her daughter got injured in a game.

4. Clipped the photo & the article about my friend’s kids from the paper and sent it to her so she’d have an extra copy.

5. Volunteered to drive the “less desirable” early shift of the carpool to PSATs this past Saturday (the boys had to be there at 7:45)

6. Sent an email to a friend commending her and her girl scout troop for painting the mural in the waiting room of the local food pantry. I saw their picture in the food pantry newsletter and figured that the mural must have taken HOURS of their girl scout leader’s time.

7. Piled 7 teammates into my car to transport them when their field got unexpectedly changed.

8. Called a good friend to check in on her when she was feeling under the weather.

9. Contacted a friend and asked for a favor on behalf of another friend. I actually did this TWICE this week, which is HUGE for me! (I never like to do this and sometimes won’t offer help even if I think I could make it work out….I just don’t like asking for favors in general, so asking for someone ELSE is even harder!)

10. Do I have a ten? NOt that I can remember. Hopefully there was another….

Today I had my friend’s daughter over on the bus for her first clarinet lesson with my daughter’s teacher. My friend was so grateful because she never would have been able to get out of work to bring her…I counted this one when I came up with the idea & now I’m counting it again now that I’m actually DOING it!

Tuesday, I brought the food for my son’s parent night. I was assigned the job, so that doesn’t count. What DOES count, is that instead of bringing home the leftovers (there was ALOT of yummy appetizers & fruit left!), I packaged them up & put them in the director’s fridge in her house. She has 4 kids & is a single mom & runs the school out of her house. She’s busy & doesn’t run the school to make a lot of $$. She was so happy that I left it.

Yesterday, packed a special lunch for my little guy with soup in a thermos plus a note telling him how wonderful he is! He came home so excited about it (he’s in kindergarten)

Also yesterday, followed up with my friend to ask about her doctor’s appt. She’s been feeling lousy lately & was scheduled for a stress test.

Also yesterday, delivered my friend’s daughter’s raincoat to her house. SHe’s left it at the school & I knew she was going to need it again this week.

Monday, I took my kids into Boston for an outing to the circus, which they each really enjoyed (I’ve got a little remorse about the supporting the circus now that I’ve been…..but the kids really liked it)

That’s all I can think of for this week….

....today I did a bunch of nice things. I’m glad I could because I felt like I hadn’t done anything particularly out-of-my-way nice in a couple of days…..

Helped my friend work out a lesson time for her daughter @ my house with my daughters’ clarinet teacher. My friend was going to have to leave work early to make lessons happen for her girl. Instead, both girls will come here off the bus & take back to back lessons & my friend won’t have to leave early.

Drove another friends’ daughter to school after a bus mix-up and then dropped the car seat back @ her house.

Subbed this morning for a friend who is on vacation with her family.

Went & watched another friends’ daughter skate at a big skating competition. She didn’t have many “fans” there, so they were really glad that we went to watch her.

Loaned out my folding tables to a friend for a yard sale.

THAT made for a good day of nice things!! I can’t think of many other nice things I did this week….hopefully there were some :)

Today I gave my neighbor’s daughter a ride to soccer practice (I wasn’t going myself, because my daughter was going straight from a playdate, but the girl was stuck without a ride so I drove her)

Yesterday I had a Mom & her son who are new to town over for coffee and a playdate. I also called a good friend that I haven’t talked to in a while, to touch base & see how she is doing.

Wednesday I baked homemade pumpkin muffins to bring to the school to celebrate my son’s and his friend’s birthdays (I offered to bake, so that the other mom could bring in plates & napkins…..). Also, I stayed late at school to finish making the field trip tags for the director.

Tuesday I subbed in the afternoon class for a co-worker whose son had strep throat (and she didn’t sound too great either)

Monday I had another neighbor’s daughter before school so that the Mom could get into work earlier. Also, I cleaned the lake house after our visiting rabbi used it. He called and raved about how much he enjoyed the house and how great it was to stay within walking distance of the temple :)

Sunday…..long story, but hung onto a little guy who got left behind my his Mom at the skating rink where my daughter has hockey. I knew the little boy and it wasn’t that difficult to keep him happy until his mom returned.

Saturday is too long ago to remember. Hopefully I did something nice.

But I think I’ve been doing well with this.

Today, I caught my friend’s dogs who were running loose in the road about 3 miles from her house and drove them back home….

Yesterday, I took my friend’s daughter to play with my son for the whole day. My friend is getting ready for a big school event in which she’s very involved and it was easier for her to get those million things done without a 6-year-old to entertain.

Weds, was my first day of work. DId a bunch of little nice things for my kids so that they would transition easier to me being gone all day (it was of course an early release day at school, so they were all home for many hours before I got there)

Tues, I spent a long time at our lake house getting it spiffed up for our “travelling rabbi” to use it over the Jewish holidays (our house is within walking distance of a temple). I cleaned like crazy, made up the bed, got the new pictures hung and the window shades up in the master bedroom.

Mon, Sun, Sat, Friday I painted the master bedroom so that it would be nice for our visiting rabbi. Long story is that we’ve been renovating this house and its just recently habitable. We spent the summer there, but never got around to the master bedroom. I really wanted our first house guests to have a comfortable stay, so felt the need to paint the master bedroom. I didn’t have big chunks of time, but ran over there to work whenever I could.

Before that I can’t remember, but hopefully I’ve done just as many nice things.

....helped a friend sort through her photos and download them to shutterfly.

....brought home the recycling bins from my son’s school to clean & disinfect.

....took all the scuba gear for my son and his two friends to return to the rental place.

....checked in with the kids of my friends (who are away….) to be sure they had rides to soccer games and their schoolwork was getting done. The grandparents are there, but its not quite the same as a parent.

....switched volunteer slots with a friend so that she could leave early to get ready for her long weekend away.

....took my hubby’s car to the car wash and vacuumed the interior (last week I cleaned out the junk, so this week I finished the job)

....stayed extra to help the director set up for an art show

....signed up to help on the work day at my son’s preschool (I always blow these off because we’re so busy on Saturdays…)

....took my friend who had surgery out to lunch

....stayed and talked to an old retired guy that I bought stuff from on craigslist. The guy was old and sad and just wanted to talk about his kids.

....surprised my hubby several times this week with thoughtful things….bringing him coffee, bringing in his lunch while he was stuck on a conference call, cleaning out his car, making his favorite dinner.

....spent time with my friend’s adult daughter who is mentally challenged.

....made a special effort to thank my son’s assistant coach (long story, but she is in an incredibly awkward situation)

....stopped and helped a friend bring in her laundry as it started to rain.

....treated my kids to ice cream.

....visited a friend who just had surgery on both her feet. She can’t drive or work for 6 weeks. Visited with her this afternoon. This is more what I’d hoped to do.