What if we just show kindness?

I see articles and blog posts like these making their rounds on Facebook. You've seen them too. They're entitled things like, What Not to Say to the Working Mom, What Not to Say to the Breastfeeding Mom, What Not to Say to the Mom of Twins, What Not to Say to the Mom of the Screaming Kid in Target.

I've read most of these articles with my brow furrowed, and after reading I'm usually in a minor state of panic. I've said a lot of these things to a lot of these mamas, I've thought. After reading at least a dozen of these articles in the past couple of months, I think I've realized what not to say to my fellow mothers in general: anything. For fear of offending or insulting her, just don't say anything.

But that's not right, my loving, chipper, need-to-know-people part of my being whispers. Are we supposed to just hole up and not talk to one another for fear of offending each other? 

It just doesn't add up... It's definitely not the way I want to be.

I began thinking, as I'm known to do, and I came to a pretty spectacular conclusion: what if we just show kindness? What if we're just nice to one another, no matter what?

An article circulating Facebook at this very moment details a list of things you shouldn't say to the "C-section mother." I was so confused when I read it. I have never defined a mom or her birth experience by c-section or vaginal or natural birth or water birth or any of the other birthing methods, nor have I given thought to how a woman becomes a mother (artificial insemination, for instance). I guess I just thought that we're mothers because we're mothers. We conceived in some form, carried our children for forty weeks, give or take a little, gave birth, and poof! We became moms. The same goes for mothers with adopted children; they're still moms to me. That article is just one of many (too many) what-not-to-say reads making its rounds on social media.

I suppose my main thought and my proposal to you, fellow mom or friend or complete stranger with or without kids, is this: what if we just show kindness? To everyone. To the mom with the screaming kid(s) or baby. To the dad trying to hold it together. To the family of six being way too loud during Sunday lunch our at Olive Garden. Show kindness. Surprisingly, it's not that hard.

That's not to say that there aren't certain things you really shouldn't say to someone of a certain circumstance, but it all goes back to kindness... If we can just be gracious towards one another, we'll never have to worry about saying the wrong thing. 

I have several lifelong goals I hope to accomplish before my time on earth is done. Hopefully, I'll get there. But at the end of the day, all I really want to be remembered for is kindness. You can take my money, my car, my home... But you can never take away kindness.