Here we are, almost eight months into our new life with three kids under five and in all honesty it is still really hard.  When we went from one kid to two we bounced back pretty quickly, but that isn’t the case with the addition of Bellamy. Some days it feels like we are getting the hang of it, but that feeling usually crashes and burns pretty quickly.  We have a couple of friends that both have five kids and I just cannot imagine how they do it. I have learned a few lessons along the way that have helped us though.

The first one is to just embrace the fact that it is going to take HOURS to get ready to leave the house.  Especially if we are trying to be all fancy pants and take baths and look like we are a respectable family. Doing hair is a new thing for me, but Harper and I have gotten into a routine of drying and combing her hair. What I used to see as a time suck has become a nice time for her and I to bond.

Another lifesaver has been to give the older two kids more responsibility.  Yes, sometimes getting a 2 and 4 year old to do household tasks takes more time that if I simply did them myself, but the satisfaction they get from helping daddy can go a long way in terms of them feeling loved and encouraged.  They want to be a part of the team and if I keep them on the bench the whole time then they will never learn teamwork.  They are masters at throwing dirty diapers in the trash and finding the baby’s paci when she is crying.

One of the most vital things for our family is to except the kindness of others, even when that is hard.  One of the best examples of this is my yard.  This summer it seemed like there was never time to cut my grass.  Something that I normally love to do was never getting done and I felt really embarrassed that it wasn’t looking good. At one point I hate to have the kids go outside and play because the grass was over our ankles.  But since we have over an acre I just couldn’t find time to do it.

That is when my #kindawesome neighbor stepped in.

One day we came home and my yard looked AMAZING. Like seriously professionally done. I couldn’t believe it.  The relief that washed over me was huge and I seriously could not thank Kelly and her son enough for cutting it for me.

Not only did they cut it that week, but they cut it the rest of the summer.

Just when it would get tall enough that I would start to try to figure out where I was going to try to find the time and energy to get it done…boom.  They would take care of it.

Each time I thanked them, they would say it was no big deal, but to me it was huge!

So, when KIND snacks told me about their #kindawesome campaign, I knew it was the perfect time to say a public Thank you to Kelly and Garret for being such a blessing to my family and I.

KIND has always imparted how important it is to recognize the good in our world and they wanted to empower everyone (yes, even you!) to be able to say thank you for the random acts of kindness that go unnoticed by the world at large every day!

To learn more about how we’re spreading kindness and how you can too, go to howkindofyou.com and check out @kindsnacks #kindawesome on social media.

There, you will have the chance to send FREE KIND BARS to those who deserve an extra thanks for just being great people!

So, get out there and say thanks! Our world today can seem a little dark, so help me amp up the wattage on the spotlight that highlights great people who are constantly being #kindawesome!

I have partnered with Life of Dad and KIND for this promotion.