My Story

This last week the teachers at Missoula Community School returned to their classrooms.  Students don't officially start until Monday, but these teachers with their big dreams for the year and bigger hearts spent countless hours preparing their classrooms and then spending time with individual students as each child came one by one to see what their classroom looks like and get a feel for the cheerful, dedicated adult that will care for them for months to come.

Now, I know many of you keep up with this blog to see what these cute children with endless supplies of kindness are doing.  But today, I am going to tell you my story; a story about a random act of kindness inspired by the Superheroes of Kindess.  As the new school year has approached, I have done a lot of reflecting on the effect and role of the Superheroes of Kindness in my life.  I am excited to see the school as a whole intentionally continue their pursuit of kindness.  Teachers have spoken to me of their visions, parents have asked if their child will be able to still participate or begin to participate, and I watched two children discuss their superpowers with one offering his powers to the other and the other graciously saying no thank you because she has her own.  The superheroes of kindness are going to grow, and the city of Missoula is hopefully prepared.  But I must admit that the original band of superheroes will always hold a special place in my heart, and will forever be a fine example of the perfect embodiment of the pure hearted.  And before the new school year officially begins, I wanted to make sure to pay tribute to these children, these souls that forever have changed how I see the possibilities of the future.

The question became, "How?"  I started thinking of missions to be kind to the children, missions to be kind to the teachers who will care for the superheroes, missions to care for the community to whom the superheroes gave their heart.  It became too much and I realized my focus this week needed to fall in setting up a classroom environment in which the superhero of kindness vision can grow.  As I left school today, Friday, I felt good.  There was a part of me, though, that felt I had not honored that group of children right, leaving me to wonder what effect that would have on the up and coming superheroes.

I planned a weekend getaway with my daughter.   The goal was to really allow for some intentional, focussed, personal time knowing the changes that the business of the week and the (most likely) unrelenting stress of the upcoming school year will bring since I will re-enter the dual role of teacher and student next week.  We arrived at our destination later than I had hoped and my lady was tired from being back in full time care this week.  We went to dinner and I had low hopes for the outcome as she was tired and hungry, and I had even lower expectations for the swimming that had to happen even though it was way too late but I had promised.

Then it happened.  We were blessed with a very kind waitress.  The funny part being I cannot pinpoint what was so unique and special about this dining experience, except that our waitress was just truly kind and friendly.  Imagine your waitress approaching you to pour your water and you, stressed, exclaiming, "Sorry, but I have to take this gal to the bathroom," and bolting out of the booth.  That is usually the first ingredient for an experience involving shortness and some unfriendliness.  But this fine lady excused us and came right back, smile and all.  She wasn't over the top.  She was just herself, a truly kind person.  Our dining experience allowed my tired four year old and I to enjoy each other, and still fulfill the promise of a swim today, albeit extremely late.  In reality, she was probably just being herself and just doing her job.  But my daughter and I were at a turning point and the evening could have gone either way, and she helped.  I thought of my heroes, and wanted to let her know her kindness had rippled.  So as I signed my bill, I wrote her a note, thanking her for her kindness and making our dining experience so enjoyable.  Did she see it?  I hope so, but do not know.  Do I feel now that I have honored those original superheroes and completed my own act of kindness that may ripple itself in its own true, simple form?  Yes.

Thank you, my original superheroes, for changing my life forever.  And thank you, new superheroes, for taking on this role that has, and will, change lives forever.
Gratefully, Kristal

Painting a Neighborhood

Sharon talking to the children.

Lucero

It is hard to believe, but the day finally came for the Superheroes of Kindness to help stain Sharon's fence.  Even though it was rain that kept us at bay for so long, we were met with a bright (and very hot) sun the afternoon of this mission.  This mission was very special to me because there was a child from four different early childhood classrooms, plus a parent with each!  Another nice surprise was that when we originally talked about doing this mission, we were just hoping to help someone in our community.  But as plans were laid out, we found that the fence we were painting belonged to a woman down my street, which also places her across the street from one of the Superheroes who was helping to paint.  Our adventure transformed from helping someone in our community to assisting a neighbor.

Connor and Stephen

Really, the sun was quite hot and it was 5:30pm.  So although the children were eager to do a mission, they were not sure initially what they had gotten themselves into.  Luckily some juice boxes and bunny crackers appeared helping to ramp up the energy, and it was not too long before all the children were staining.  Modeling the importance of helping those in your community, ACE Hardware donated all of the supplies needed.  (Thanks ACE!)

Mason

It was quite funny looking at the fence at various points.  You could tell where adults painted because the stain stretched from top to bottom, and you could tell where children painted because the paint stopped 3/4 of the way up.  But boy, were those children focussed when brushing that fence.  It was hard not to tear up as I watched families painting together; a dad giving stroking advice to his son, two brothers working side by side, and two other brothers rotating turns without really knowing they were doing that.

Marquez

As the children finished, parents continued to paint.  And two volunteers from Imagine Missoula, Catherine and Penny, worked diligently the whole way through.  These two lovely ladies stayed and finished the staining after the children's energy and attention spans dwindled and parents departed with their children.  (Thank you Catherine and Penny for seeing the project to the end!)

Bridget

I am used to the children being filled with a sense of pride after a mission, talking about what they did and recounting their memories.  But this time I have had the joy of talking walks with one of the children by the site of the mission, and it is positively delightful seeing the pride come out through body language and demeanor.  My little lady gets slightly more bounce in her step, stands a little taller, and talks in a way that is almost whimsical.  She only briefly mentions that we painted the fence, but always suddenly has the urge to go out and do something nice for someone as we walk by.  At home, she now talks about Sharon down the street.  "Sharon might like to plant flowers by the fence we painted, Mama," she will say.  This is a child that has not only built pride in herself, but in her neighborhood.  She has ownership, belonging, and a feeling of playing an important role.  What an amazing feeling to have at age four.

The families and volunteers:

Catherine and Penny,
diligently working.

Catching Kindness

Although the weather postponed the Superhero fence painting extravaganza, that does not mean the superheroes have been sitting idle.  Last Wednesday, three Superheroes visited Sharon, whose fence we will stain, and delivered her handmade flowers to say thank you for her patience as we keep our eyes on the weather.  We deviated from our norm; usually we use pipe cleaners for stems but on this day we were able to use twigs from part of my apple tree that has not regrown.  Marquez, Lucero, and Bridget doned capes (Lucero for the first time, and playing the role of our youngest superhero so far) and walked down the street.  We surprised Sharon, arriving an hour earlier than we had thought.  But she was glad to see us still.  "These are the best kind of flowers," she said, "because you don't have to water them and they last forever!"  Sharon knew we were coming (we had called to see that she would be home), and had set out Glacier quarters to give each child.  The children walked away beaming, not expecting to receive their own thank you gift.

We are excited to say it looks like we have an official date.  Next Wednesday, July 6th at 5:30, the superhero children and superhero volunteers will gather to finally stain Sharon's fence.  If you would like to join, just email the superheroes and we will make sure you have the address.

I have been able to follow one Superhero as she caught a case of kindness from a friend and has done her job to spread this contagious need to make others smile.  Recently a Superhero, who we shall call Violet, received a card in the mail.  The card was unexpected, as were the stickers found inside.  Violet grinned the whole day long.  The next morning this random act of kindness was the first thing she talked about.  Violet woke up and reminded me of her mail (what a treat for a young child to receive mail) and then asked if we could give someone flowers.  I expected this young lady to want to take flowers to her friend, Linn, who had sent the card.  But no.  Violet wanted to take flowers to a teacher from her school, "just because."  She just wanted to let this teacher know, "that she is nice and I miss her."  So we loaded up in the jogger and delivered a flower to Gerri.  And the kindness did not stop there.  The next several days were filled with Violet choosing (on her own) someone she wanted to make smile.  A picture for Grandma.  A note for Grandpa.  A call to Aunt Katie "because she will be so surprised to hear my voice and she will smile, mama."  In fact, we have three cards to mail today that have been made especially for some friends from school.  It really seems as if she cannot stop, and it all started from someone mailing a card to let this little one know someone was thinking of her.  My favorite was at the grocery store last weekend, when Violet looked up at the woman helping bag our groceries and said, "Wow, you are just so beautiful."  I watched that woman just glow, knowing her day was just made infinitely better.  Maybe even her week.  Seeing the power of saying something you are thinking or feeling, feeling a little unsure of saying it but knowing deep down it will make the other person smile.    

Watching Violet so happily perform these acts of kindness, some small and some not so small, and watching them ripple over a distance farther than my eye can see, has made me take a deeper look into my day.  What can I do in this moment to make someone around me smile?  Hmmm, I think I will go answer that right now.

Thank You Mission

Thank you Cody Schliebe for making this dream come true.

This mission, the final school year mission, is one that I shall remember for a while.  The Superheroes embraced the spirit of these acts of kindness and really, truly believed they were Superheroes called into action.  They flew (or ran) the entire distance with smiles and jokes the entire way.  Each one had learned that showing appreciation is a most important of tasks.  For this mission, they were able to take a teacher, Meg, from another classroom on her first mission.  I still smile at how transformative putting on those capes of kindness has been.

The mission, which we accepted with great pride, was to deliver a thank you note to Bernice's Bakery.  For the last couple of years, Bernice's Bakery has baked the pizzas the children make each month so that the school can hold Pizza Day, a day in which each child in the school is part of the process of creating pizza to enjoy together.  We were charged with delivering a thank you note.

The children were very excited to don their capes and enjoy a (rare) sunny day.  They 'flew' the whole time!  As mentioned before, flying means running so fast that we believe we are actually flying.  Usually we fly a block or two and then need to walk a bit.  But the joy of the mission took over and boy did we want to fly.  The children did stop at each corner, lay down, and take a nap for a minute before they took on the next stretch of block.

We took a detour to Bitterroot Floral to pick out flowers.  The children were very excited to pick out their bouquet and were even recognized by the store workers.  After carefully selecting our flowers, we made our way to Bernice's where we were able to hand deliver our thank you.

This particular delivery ended up being extra special, as the fellow who had oversaw our pizza baking will be leaving after the summer to pursue photography.  The joy on his face as this group of children hand-delivered flowers and a thank you note, not knowing we were also saying goodbye to a friend, was worth the trip.  He brought out his camera and took a couple of pictures of the children before we flew back to school for music.

During the mission, one boy who had put his shoes on the wrong feet and initially resisted the adult requests to switch his shoes to the right feet, finally decided to put his shoes on the appropriate feet.  He was feeling like he could not move as fast as he wanted.  Immediately upon making the switch he flew down the street bearing a huge grin.  He stopped to say, "Kristal - look!  I am flying so fast there are stars coming out of my back!"  And sure enough, there were.  I do believe I could not have scripted a better last mission.  Thank you, my original band of superheroes, for helping make a difference one mission at a time.

*The first summer mission - fence painting with Imagine Missoula - was delayed due to rain.  As soon as there are a couple of sunny days, we will reschedule.  If you would like to join us, just email the superheroes.

Superhero Spell of Friendship

The Superheroes needed to take a break from missions the last couple weeks as they prepared for their school's presentation night and participated in some fun field trips.  Although the Superheroes were not out in physical force, they managed to influence those around them still.  Here is a story one of the teachers created to help resolve a debate between herself and one of the children.

In another classroom within the school, a debate has been occurring between a student (four years old) and a teacher.  The child, who believes with all her heart she is a unicorn, created an animal.  This animal was a pegacorn, a mix between a unicorn and a pegasus.  The debate was that a pegacorn and a dragon could not be friends.  It was well known that the dragon would come after the pegacorn, and the pegacorn would perform donkey kicks to fend off the dragon.  But, the teacher was sure that (with help) the pegacorn and dragon could learn to be friends.  The child disagreed.  It should be noted the child was a fan of the superheroes and I believe has her own superhero cape.  Well, in a last, very well thought out, attempt to prove these two could be friends, the teacher created a picture and story for the child.  

Thanks Allison, for using the superhero way to help spread your message of friendship.

The Superheroes will be going on their last school year missions in the next week.  But the superhero work does not end with the last day of school.  We will be working with Imagine Missoula, a local organization, to provide a few opportunities over the summer for anyone (young or old) who would like to be a superhero to join in on a mission.  Our first joint mission is coming up.  A nice elder woman needs help painting her fence, and has accepted the superhero offer of help.  Any child who participates will be able to have their picture taken in a cape.  This is the way it will work.  Because this is our first attempt at joining these superhero preschoolers with Imagine Missoula's superheroes who work during the day,  we are putting out two dates - Wednesday June 1st or Tuesday June 7th (4pm both days).  If you are able and willing to join this momentous mission, email me through the superhero email address telling me which day you can help.  We will choose the date in which we are able to get an ample number of volunteers, both young and old.  Hope to see you there!

Bike Walk Bus Week Fun

The Superheroes of Kindness were having quite a bit of fun during bike walk bus week (two superheroes rode the bus with me one day and one rode his scoot bike with me another day - all the way to school!)  We decided it was definitely necessary to do a Bike Walk Bus Week Superhero mission.  This fine day we were joined by Superhero supporter and friend, Ed.  So excited you joined us, Ed!

Note the flower sticking out of the bicycle handle :)

For this mission, we wanted to celebrate people who biked, walked or bussed.  This was a very special mission in that we were going to perform our first really random act of kindness, one in which we were not going to see the recipient and were going to leave our act of kindness out there for someone to receive.  We spent Wednesday making butterflies out of some really sparkly wallpaper samples.  On the butterflies we attached notes, making sure any random recipients would know what it is they were being left and why.  On Friday, the Superheroes and their special guest visited Bitterroot Floral where we each picked out a single stem flower.  Then we set off down Higgins to give our flowers to passer-byers.

Of course, we ran into some 'friends' along the way.  A couple of the children saw a police officer on a motorbike.  After some brief discussion distinguishing between a 'bike' and a 'motorbike', we decided to give the officer a butterfly (well, actually more like six butterflies) for helping to keep our streets safe.  As a thank you, the police officer let the children take turns sitting on his motorbike.







Then of course, we ran into some folks eating on the Hip Strip.  The children gave one fellow a butterfly, and he chatted the children up.  He complimented the craftmanship of their work (great cutting skills) and talked capes.  Definitely exciting in our book.

Finding the best spot to put a butterfly.

The random part of the mission was wonderful!  The children were excited to leave butterflies  for someone to find.  In fact, it was quite a bit of fun trying to wrap the butterflies around bike handles, in tires, kind of anywhere on the bikes.  Some of us wanted to leave the broken stems from our flowers (after all, the stems are pretty special parts of the flowers, too.)  And contrary to what I had planned for, each child was able to give up their special flower to leave or give to someone they do not know.  Although we frequent the flower shop, this was the first time we had to give up a single stem we had picked out and held.  (We have only given them away as bunches for special occasions like birthdays, not singly and just for fun).   This was also the first time we offered something special we really wanted for ourselves to help make someone else's day.  And I tell you, my spirit was very much renewed this mission.  These children really showed me the importance of watering the seeds of kindness.  I have not stopped smiling since.  I can only imagine how a recipient of one of the flowers or butterflies must be feeling right now.

Thank you Superheroes for helping celebrate alternative transportation, and for refreshing your teacher's spirit!

Butterfly House Beauty

Presenting Jen with the jar of money

While the Crazy Loving Cows (a three-year-old class at the Community School) were learning about the rain forests, they invited Jen from the Missoula Butterfly House to come into their classroom and share information about insects found in the rain forest.  She brought in hissing Madagascar cockroaches, Milton the millipede, and a blue morpho-butterfly.  The children were so excited and interested in the insects that they wanted to do something to help get the Butterfly House started.  (It will officially open in 2012).  

Jen thanking the students.

The children brought in pennies from home (over 700!) and held a bake sale at school.  Talk about realizing you are never too small to make a difference in your community - they made over $100 in two days from their bake sale!  When they combined the penny drive and the bake sale, they raised $139 that they were able to donate to the Missoula Butterfly House.  The children were delighted to be able to give Jen the huge jar of money, and they had the added bonus of feeling great about helping get the Butterfly House off to a good start so that other children can enjoy the insects too.  

Friends of the Butterfly House stickers - yeah!

Wow, the power of a three year old is magnificent.  Thank you Crazy Loving Cows for your help!