We were at Walmart last week and we were on the self-check-out line. You know, where you scan your items yourself then pay for it all on your own? The girls usually like doing this part, and since we didn’t really get a whole lot, we decided to get on the self-service line.

We got up to the register and as my older daughter started scanning our items, I was riffling through my purse to see if I had any coupons to use. All of a sudden my youngest daughter started nudging us, saying, “Look! someone left their money in there!” pointing to the small receptacle below the scanning area where cash is dispensed if you have change or if you took some cash back.

Sure enough, when we looked there was a crisp ten dollar bill laying there. My teenager’s first reaction was, “Cool! we get ten bucks!” Well, she didn’t say it exactly that way, but her eyes did lit up. haha! But her little sister, before we could say anything said, “We have to give it back! What if some poor person comes back for it because it’s their only money left?”

So I took the cash and went over to the cashier for the self-checkout lines and told her we found the bill. She gave me the funniest look. Like she was trying to figure out if I was pulling her leg or what. Then she reached over to accept the money and said “Thank You”

I walked back to where the girls were and we finished checking out. I had a Walmart discount to use so I finished the payment process and we started walking out of the store. That’s when the lady at the register looked at us again and this time she said, “Thank you for returning the money! I will set it aside for when the person comes back for it”. She had a surprised but pleased look on her face. I guess not too many people would have returned the money. It took her a few minutes to process. lol!

And after I thought about it, I wonder if I would have kept the money too? It’s would have been so easy to simply pocket the bill and have some spare change for free. But then, the more I thought about it, it would have been a heavy spare change to carry. It would have been like weighing not only my pockets but my conscience too. After all, isn’t this just the kind of lesson that we all try to teach our kids? I was glad my daughter learned the lesson, resisted the temptation and kept the rest of us honest.

Last weekend my daughter and I went out grocery shopping. It was a Saturday so the grocery store was full and we ended up parking a little away from the entrance. When we had finished shopping and were packing our groceries in the trunk of the car, a middle aged man, neatly dressed and well mannered came up and offered to take our grocery cart back to the store.

Normally, I try to avoid strangers coming up to me in parking lots as much as possible. But for some reason, this day, I was not offended that he came up to us as we were loading the car. When he asked if I could give him a little something for his trouble; he said he’s hit on some hard times and that day was a bad day for him. He said, he was sure tomorrow was going to be better and he won’t have to ask people for money.

I don’t know why, because I don’t normally give money to pan handlers either, but this time I did. I handed him a dollar and he said thank you with a smile and took our shopping cart back to the store. When I got in the car, my daughter was already sitting on the passenger side. She asked if I gave him something. I said, Yes, I had a dollar so I gave him that.

She smiled, and said, “That’s good, mom. I’m glad.”

I think my absent minded altruism brightened her day more than it did the stranger I gave money to. For that, I was grateful and my day seemed brighter too. Not only did we help a stranger, I also realized that kindness and charity is in my daughter’s heart; and that made me a very happy mom.

Have you brightened someone else’s day lately? Come leave me a comment on the Cheer Giveaway on Found Not Lost and you could win Cheer laundry detergent!

On a related theme, also check out my review and giveaway for the book, Breaking the Bank by Yona McDonough.

The bottom line of talking with your kids is to simply TALK. Start talking when they’re young, talk wherever you are and whatever you’re doing. Keep talking until you’re blue in the face and one day they will listen and it will all be worth it.

As important as talking, you also need to learn when to shut up and listen. I’m learning that we all need space but especially teenagers. Sometimes they just don’t feel like talking. Sometimes it’s enough that they are sitting in the same room as you.

UNIQUE CONVERSATION STARTERS

It’s easy to say just start talking but it’s not always easy to do. Sometimes we have to find other ways to get the conversation going. Some of the comments on our post about communicating with your kids generated a collection of unique and creative ideas to kick start communication with your kids.
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Continuing with our series on communicating with your kids, this time we’ll be talking about listening instead of talking.
 

LISTEN, DON’T JUDGE AND BE HONEST - GIVE THEM SPACE

And most of all, stay calm. I know our first instinct usually is to protect them from what we know is surely impending mistakes. But, especially with older children, we have to realize that they have to find their own way and we can’t always fix everything in their lives. Sometimes we just have to be there to catch them when they fall.

Here are more comments from other moms and moms to be:
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