Day 2 - Kindness

Day 1 finished ok. I did not get upset at Sas - I was able to show patience as was she. I'm not sure whether it was because I was trying or because there was nothing in particular to set me off. Sas did note that she had difficulty being patient with our children. That made me realize that I should try to exercise some patience with them as well. I was relatively quick to yell at them a couple of times when they were not listening. There's the thing, we do need to have discipline with them, but maybe there's a different way other than yelling. I hate yelling at the kids. I'm rambling, but I also need to make sure I don't treat Sas in the same manner as I would the children. Sas is my wife, my teammate in life (yeah corny I know) and I should treat her as such.

DAY 2's dare is to continue to be patient and calm, no feelings of negativity towards our spouse. In addition, we must show a form of kindness to the other. Kindness can be either gentleness, helpfulness, willingness, or initiative. Where patiences is a preventative measure, kindness is proactiveness.

I see myself as a kind person. Whenever someone comments about me it's always "He's so NICE!" However, I may at times lapse in kindness acts when it comes to my spouse, which doesn't necessarily make sense. She's the most important person in my life and should come first.

Since seeing the movie, I have proactively done some kind acts for her. Monday was her birthday, so on Saturday when she was gone all day, I took the kids out shopping for presents. I listened to what Sas really wanted and got it for her - a new grill. But then, instead of just giving to her it in a box, I spent 4 hours or so putting it together so that she could see it when she arrived home that evening. It made me feel good to do this for her and I think she appreciated it as well. i also listened to her and got her an ice cream cake. She had said either ice cream or cheesecake. I chose ice cream cake because the kids and I don't like cheesecake. So, maybe a little selfishness there, but it was still something that she enjoyed.

On Sunday at church, they have a little counter with donut holes and coffe/hot chocolate. Sas works the children's check in counter and every now and then will ask me to get her a hot chocolate when the kids get a donut. On Sunday, without asking I did this for her.

Tuesday night I went downstairs and got her a glass of water. She didn't ask, but she often likes to have water by her side when watching tv relaxing before bed.

This morning, while she was in the shower, I made the bed. Normally one of us do this in the morning, sometimes me, sometimes her. But typically I only make it afterwards. So hopefully me doing it first helps.

On the flip side, I probably take some of Sas's gifts for granted. I need to acknowledge and thank her for those she makes more than I currently do. Sas always makes dinner [sidebar: We used to alternate when we first moved in together. But I hardly know how to make anything, so it was taking up all of her time anyway showing me what to do! So now, she cooks and I clean up after dinner, doing the dishes and such.] I try to always thank her for making dinner and when it's something really good, I definitely tell her.

Other than that, I think I need to focus more on recognizing her acts of kindness towards me and make sure I don't take her for granted.