code name mama's: march of kindness

I have been reading alot about Dionna @codename mama and her March of kindness on facebook. It hit me that this was an excellent idea and I really wanted to participate, but then "the word" appeared. "The word" being COMMIT! Time and time again, I would see that word. Commit to participate in Code Name Mama's March of kindness. Commit to show a random act of kindness every day in March. Will you join us in our commitment to............well, you get the idea. Let's just say, that if we were all in a room, chairs in semi-circular formation, I would stand-up and say "my name is Jodi, and I'm a commitment-phobe".
The funny thing is, I'm not a commitment-phobe when it comes to the really big things. Marriage, check! Buy a house, check! Help raise step-son, check! Have kids, check, check, checkity, check! I'm a commitment-phobe in relation to the proverbial "small stuff". I don't "sweat" it, I just avoid committing to it. While berating myself for the past few days, and wishing that I could just commit to this quest, I had a thought. By committing to this endevear, I would be doing myself a random act of kindness. By pushing through the uncomfortable, I would be making myself a better person. There is no better act of kindness.
As I type, I am thinking of the sample acts of kindness that Dionna has listed on her website . there were so many simple ideas that can be done. Acts of kindness that should be done everyday, even if there was no 'challenge' to do so. You can spend 5 extra minutes with your child, minutes that would normally be spent on the phone or doing some other task that takes up most of our adult life. You can do something nice for a friend our your partner. Write a quick note of appreciation to someone who has been kind to you. Write a note of encouragement to someone who needs it. There are hundreds of things that could be done to make the world a kinder place.
There are a few things that I have done today that were purposeful acts of kindness, even though i was, at the time, NOT going to commit to anything!! For example, Today, when my BFF asked me to *gulp* commit to watching her daughter, my beautiful neice, I said "yes". I have no issue watching her, I just have a hard time saying "yes" without resistance. I defended a mom at work today even though I have never met her, even though she was not even present, when her son's therapist was talking about her parenting. I stopped myself from yelling at Pip when she continuously interrupted my conversation with hubz. And my greatest act of kindness occurred at a sesame street live performance. During intermission, hubz, pip, peanut and myself were taking a stroll. I was wearing peanut in my moby and we passed a similar aged toddler on a leash. I ignored this, although I had much to say. THEN, as I was recovering from the sight of it, two men of a less than clean, less than smart nature, were heard by hubz saying 'you thought the leash was bad, check that thing out' to each other. Once we were past them and hubz relayed what he had overheard, I decided to do another act of kindness. I decided to NOT punch them in the face. I decided to turn around and give them some information. I asked the men if they thought my baby wrap was as bad as a leash, to which they replied, um oh um. I didn't let them lie, I just gave them some information. One of the men was holding his toddler who was thrashing around in his arms. I pointed out that he would benefit from a carrier. And then I told him what I thought. Leashes promote wild, non-hand-holding behavior. It tells your child that you want them far away from you. A carrier tells my child 'i want you close because I love you'. Wearing my baby is also an act of kindness.
So, Dionna, I will try. I will try to commit to the March of kindness. I will try to do a random act of kindness, every day even though i am still more worried about the 'committment' than i am worried about the 'kindness'!