Catching Kindess: The One Thing Parents Don't Mind Being Contagious

Parents of young children find themselves saying the word ‘no’ so often that they are as sick of hearing it as the little ones! Take a break from ‘redirecting energy’ (which is code for distracting the child to stop a temper tantrum) and change the focus.

Catch your kids doing something nice.

Some of my favorite photographs are those when one of my children is comforting another, and having these pictures is proof to all family members that siblings don’t ALWAYS argue! Having these pictures can also affect siblings positively in that they remember the loving connections as well as the bickering.

Here are a few tips to catch kindness:

Don’t let them know you want to take a picture of them. If they see the camera too early, it’ll interrupt the moment and it may be gone for good.

Shoot from behind. You don’t need to see their faces; in fact, it’s often more dramatic if you can catch just two heads touching or arms entwined.

Take the photograph and add a journal entry about what was happening at the time. Catching kindness can be a recurring theme in scrapbook projects.

When you catch kindness, you may find it continues to spread. Some days, most parents wish for nothing more than witnessing a few tender moments between siblings.

Just keep your camera handy!