I have a temper. It’s pretty bad on some days. And I can see it in my son. My hope is that I can teach him kindness, gentleness, and patience as he grows. One way we are dealing with our demons is kitties. Loving, sweet, and purring kittens. So now we use kittens to teach kindness to our toddlers.
Our sweet furry kittens we dropped at our front door a few weeks ago. They came to us at the right time. My father died on Sunday. We just needed a little love and furry friends to help us through this hard time.
Unfortunately, the poor kitties weren’t treated well. They were hard to catch and bring in. So I thought this was a perfect opportunity. So we started teaching Aiden to be careful with the kitties.
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Use Kittens to Teach Kindness
One of them gravitated to him immediately.
He’s proudly announced, “I love her!”
“She’s my favorite!”
“I want to hug her!”
Right now as I’m writing this he’s sitting with her watching Curious George with his favorite kitty purring her happy little self.
Now, unfortunately, he is 3 so he’s not as nice as that all the time. I still need to take the little furball away from him when he isn’t being nice. He’s trying though which is the important part.
The mother cat was also left with us. She was much more afraid than her kittens. We are trying to make her comfortable with us. She’s still pretty scared but she lets Aiden pet her.
When he does something nice to the kitties, he gets rewarded with praise and more time with the kittens. He’s sharing his toys and feeding the kittens. He wants to take care of the kitties. It’s heartwarming to see.
(And just in case you’re worried. This is me with my first cat. Right around 3 years old. He lived a long happy life with lots and lots of love and attention. No animals were injured.)
Did you enjoy this article? How do you teach kindness to your toddler?
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This is a unique and good way on teaching your kids about being kind. And I think it is effective as your son starts to share his toys and take care of the kitten. Thank you for sharing!
Nice idea. Hope you get good results for this. And it’s also good for kids learn to well behaved with animals.
Oh I love to see this. Besides all the great lessons for your son, it sound like those cats were in need and are so blessed to have found you! 🙂