My best friend and I saw Won’t You Be My Neighbor recently, and we were both incredibly moved by the entire documentary. I pray all the time that my child will be the kindest kid in the room, but I am definitely not leading by example enough. It has inspired me to go out of my way to show kindness to others, so here is a list of simple and easy ways to show kindness to others. I broke it up by The 5 Love Languages to make it more specific to how you most feel comfortable showing love and kindness to others.
Words of Affirmation:
- Write a simple note saying how much you love being their neighbor and hope they’re having a good week.
- I have been burned by pettiness expressed on the neighborhood Facebook pages, so make a point to post about something positive and uplifting that you saw in the neighborhood. One of my favorites was when our neighbor found a little kid’s lost horse toy in their yard. Instead of being all up in arms about their yard being “trashed” they made a little house out of cardboard to keep it out of the elements and posted a “found” picture in our group. It was honestly funny and heartwarming.
- Nominate someone in your neighborhood for yard of the month or leave an anonymous note on their door complimenting their curb appeal.
- Make a point to say hello and strike up a conversation when your neighbors are outside. (Also, learn their names!)
- Wish them happy holidays – even just a “Happy Fall!” can be random and positive.
Acts of Service:
- Mow their yard for no reason (maybe not simple but WOW THAT WOULD BE KIND!)
- Bake a special treat for a new neighbor moving in (or anyone for that matter!)
- Offer to water plants, check the mail, or look after their house while they are away.
- Take out their trash or bring in their cans when doing your own.
- Pick up any trash you see in their yard or weeds that really stick out.
Quality Time:
- Have them over for dinner or invite them out to dinner.
- Give them your full attention when having conversations. Make sure they know you are happy to be talking to them and enjoy being around them.
- Attend neighborhood meetings and social functions. We loved this about our first neighborhood, and it made us feel at home QUICKLY! My dad still refers to our first neighborhood as “Mayberry”.
- Invite neighbors to go on walks or start up a walking / running group.
- Volunteer in neighborhood initiatives together. This could be National Night Out, picking up trash, attending city council meetings, or doing Neighborhood Watch.
Physical Touch (hear me out…):
- Always shake their hand or give a hug when you see them. I realize that some people just don’t do physical touch well so this depends on how well you know one another.
- Lend a hand with something heavy or help taking their groceries inside – taking a physical “load off” of them.
- Pat them on the shoulder when paying them a compliment.
- Give high fives or a fist bump to neighborhood kids playing outside.
- Pet dogs when out on a walk. Dogs are neighbors too and love a good belly rub!!
Gifts:
This was kind of easy for me, so I decided to stick with the season – Fall themed gift ideas for neighbors!
- Make your neighbors a Fall Bucket List. I love this one by One Little Momma.
- Put together a Caramel Apple Dip packet. Simple & so yummy!
- Buy a fall flavored candle. I received a pumpkin vanilla candle from Trader Joe’s recently, and it smells AMAZING! The air just feels crisper when you have a good fall candle burning.
- Maybe a little more adventurous for some, but I love these house number pumpkins! You can get fake pumpkins from the dollar store and stencil the numbers on for a fun and inexpensive gift for fall.
- Buy extra Halloween candy and drop some off to your neighbors to give them a head start. OR give them a sweet treat to come home to for themselves!
