Human Kindness #18: Like a Kid in a Sweet Shop

Welcome back to Human Kindness! If you haven’t already, please check out Human Kindness: Introduction for the background to this blog series! These stories are NOT all my own, they have been submitted to me for the purpose of this series and are a collection from some of the kindest people I know or who have contacted me to share their story.

I am ALWAYS on the lookout for kindness stories, so please do get in touch if you have one, there is a chance for you to submit yours at the end of this post (and I will always keep them anonymous). As always, if you’d like to receive these stories directly to your inbox every Monday morning, sign up to the mailing list at the end of this post.

Like every week, I absolutely adore this week’s story! It is such a beautiful gesture of kindness and it is for sure something I would love to hand down to my kids if I ever have them!

“When I was a kid, I remember that my mum would ask my dad to go to the shop for some items and he would ask me if I would like any sweets, telling me I could choose one thing – whatever I wanted. Excited, I would spend ages trying to think of what my favourite chocolate bar or type of sweets was, and what I could ask for from the shop. But as a young kid, I would always be overwhelmed and end up either saying the first thing that came to my head like a Galaxy or Dairy Milk.

When my dad would return from the shop, he would tell me they didn’t have any, so he had to get something else instead. He would then proceed to pull something random out of the bag, something I may or may not have ever tried, and ask “is this OK?”. I would be excited and go to take it, when he would say “or… would you prefer this?” and would pull another chocolate bar out of the bag. He would go on to pull endless items out of this mysterious, endless bag of sweets and it was honestly one of the most joyful things a young child could experience. ALL THESE SWEETS! It felt magical. I was convinced he must have bought the whole shop, and as a young child, it was such a lovely feeling that my dad bought the whole shop, just for me!

It was funny because this happened fairly often, not every week but every so often, but my young brain never seemed to compute that Dad going to the shop meant there would be lots of sweets. I never once began to expect it so there was always a surprise element when he came home and did it. I would experience such a sheer sense of joy whenever it happened and it is funny that it is these small but wonderful gestures that stay with you and still make you feel so loved 20-30 years later.”

***PLEASE NOTE – it seems there are some issues with the below form and stories not being submitted. For some reason you have to go through the process TWICE, you will receive a confirmation when your message has been sent. If you still can’t submit your story, please email it to hello@reflectandintrospect.com***

Have you experienced an act of kindness recently? Maybe you have done something for somebody that you haven’t yet shared for fear of being judged to be “bragging” or you have been on the receiving end of a kindness that somebody has shown you. My inbox is ALWAYS open for your kindness stories so please submit them!

Stories will be treated with discretion and published anonymously at all times, and I will share as much or as little information as you wish. Message me using the form below and I’ll be sure to feature your story in an upcoming post.

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