7 Year Old Kindness

Kemper is 7 years old.  Vito is 97.  They are neighbors.  And buddies. 

Kemper is my great-nephew, and by that I mean the son of my niece, so great-nephew, and so a terrific nephew, so GREAT nephew!  He has the most kind heart of any child ever (in my proud aunt opinion).

 

Kemper, November 2015

But it isn’t just ME who thinks he is kind!  Everyone who meets him does!  This Thanksgiving I made “word clouds” for my family.  I had everyone email me a few words that they associated with each family member.  I then put those words into a “word cloud”, which makes the most mentioned words the biggest on the page.  It is easy to guess what Kemper’s big words were – “kind” was mentioned by 2 people and “kind hearted” was mentioned by 3 more!!  (People also associated “funny”, “smart”, “open minded”, “compassionate”, “fast”, and “Legos” with him J among other words, which I think all fit him perfectly, too.)

I called Kemper the other night to ask him about why he is so kind to Vito.  Here is what he told me:

Me:  Kemper, why do you do kind things for Vito?

Kemp:  He really needs help.  He is nice!  One day I went to his house to rake his leaves. 

Me:  Did you ask him to give you money for your work?

Kemp:  NO, I didn’t ask for money.  It was just volunteer.


Kemper raking leaves for his buddy



Me:  Did you rake the leaves by yourself?
Kemp:  Another neighbor lady came over and helped, too.  (Note:  I think sometimes Kemper’s parents help him at Vito’s house, too J .)

Me:  And how did helping Vito make YOU feel?

Kemper:  It made me feel good.  I felt good because I helped him out.  Being kind makes me feel good AND it helps Vito. 

Me:  How do you think it makes Vito feel when you do kind things for him, like rake his leaves?

Kemper:  He probably feels happy.  He smiled when he saw us raking. And he thanked us. 

Vito, age 97, and Kemper, age 7.  Buddies.

Me:  Will you do more kind things for him do you think? 
Kemper:  Yes!  Sometimes I bring his newspaper to him.  Sometimes when we make cookies we share them with him!  I have carried his trash cans for him. And I will probably shovel his snow.  (Note:  word on the street is that Kemper really wants to shovel for his buddy!)


Here is Kemp when he was the ring bearer in a wedding.  I shot this DURING the wedding.  :) 
He was taking a little break from the official ceremony.

Kemper’s mom, Ashlee, talked to me also and said that sometimes Kemper might be considered a little TOO kind!  Hahaha.  One example she gave is that last year his school had “stereotypical” lunch ladies, and this year they were all replaced with really sweet, nice ones.  But when asked which group of lunch ladies he prefers, Kemper “doesn’t want to make the old lunch ladies feel bad by complimenting the new lunch ladies” (even though NONE of the lunch ladies are present when he is asked the question!! J ).  That’s Kemper, always kind to everyone!!

I love this photo of Kemper in the outfield.  I think he was only 5 when I shot this, but it just feels so representational of Little League to me.  :)  By the way, Kemper is a really good ball player!

So you see, even 7 year olds get it!  Kindness is good.  Kindness is easy.  JUST DO IT!  Your Kindness Activist button will come in the mail soon, Kemper!!! 

Do you know a kind kid??  Or a kind adult??  Please send me an email at kindnessactivist@gmail.com and tell me a little about them!  I would love to declare them a KINDNESS ACTIVIST!

Bonus photo!  This was a project Kemper did recently at school.  Let's just say, his dad (whose name "coincidentally" is PETER, just like this colorful elephant!) is very proud of it.  Doesn't Kemp have good handwriting, too?