I woke up 30 minutes before the alarm went off a bit puzzled. What woke me up?

Listening, I realized I was hearing some clanging from the kitchen. The rest of the family rested quietly in their beds. What was going on?

A kitchen bandit? Is the cat being mischievous again?

Curious.

As I crept closer to the kitchen, I realized someone was methodically taking dishes out of the dishwasher. As if I were a an experienced ninja, and frankly, aren’t all parents who make it through the newborn phase of getting a baby to sleep and then back out of the room noiselessly using intense ninja stealth skills? . . . back to the story . . . .

With ninja-like stealth, I peered around the corner and saw Little Brother, fully dressed even with his beloved orange coat on, emptying the dishwasher.

WOW! I wasn’t going to interrupt that.

Watching for a few more minutes, I became witness to the fact that he was even quietly reorganizing the serving-ware drawer.

I quietly went back upstairs and readied for the day. Little Brother is an EARLY riser and doesn’t like to be alone when he is up. He has been working on letting the rest of us sleep until the alarm goes off. Clearly, he found a way to use that extra time this morning.

After we were all up and eating breakfast, I thanked him for the help and asked what prompted the action.

“Simple, Mom. I saw a need and knew I had the time to help. So, I did.”

May we all view needs around us in such a simple and actionable lens.

How did we get here with Little Brother? A daily focus on kindness, 10 minutes at a time developing and exercising our kindness muscles. Small moments of focus on kindness make a difference.