50 Simple Acts of Kindness for Valentine's Day
This post is sponsored by Ethos Chocolate, but as always all opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that help make this blog possible.
You may have seen my IG post during the holidays about our 4 gift rule for Christmas—"something you want, something you need, somewhere to go and something to read”. It’s become a tradition that has transformed Christmas to our family forever. The other day, Lew and I began thinking about how we can improve the way we celebrate more holidays in our home. With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, we started brainstorming ways we could instill love for others into our boys as well as ourselves. From serving others to supporting brands like Ethos Chocolate that make health and sustainability their main focus, here are 50 simple & practical ideas we came up with:
Take Valentine’s cards to nursing home residents
Cook a Valentine’s dinner for a lonely friend or neighbor
Send flowers to a friend
Compliment each other
Say a special prayer for someone
Forward your change or pay for someone behind you in the drive-thru
Hold the door open for someone
Give someone a Valentine’s balloon bouquet
Let someone skip you in line
Take festive treats to your local fire station
Have a Valentine’s themed playdate at your house
Offer to babysit for parents who’d love a date
Facetime your grandparents and tell them you love them
Encourage a friend you love
Send Valentine ecards
Call someone to catch up
Make happy notes with sidewalk chalk
Take baked goods to a teacher
Have a family round of shoulder massages
Invite another family over for Valentine’s dinner
Take cans of food to the local food bank
Donate clothes to a local organization
Introduce someone who just moved here to new friends
Help someone in need
Teach someone something new
Fold clothes for a tired mama
Smile at everyone
Play with animals at a shelter
Make someone else’s bed
Make/buy coffee for someone
Make a loved one breakfast in bed
Give your undivided attention
Tell someone why they are special to you
Record a video message with love and send to friends
Leave a thank you note for your mail carrier
Pick up litter
Read a book to someone
Tell a manager how great your service was
Tell a joke and make someone laugh
Give a hug
Return someone’s cart at the store
Put change in a vending machine
Support a friend’s business
Leave a nice tip
Prepare a relaxing bath for your loved one
Have a heart pizza delivered to someone
Donate to your valentine’s favorite charity
Pick up groceries for someone
Make military valentines packages
Give healthy valentines treats
I read through the ideas with London today and he choose some of his favorites. He’s big on celebrations (no clue where he gets that from 😉) and couldn’t wait “all the way til’ Valentine’s day” to start spreading kindness. So we started putting together the valentine’s treats we’re giving this year called Ethos Chocolate. It’s our way of supporting a more sustainable option for chocolate. Ethos Chocolate uses GMO technology to preserve cocoa beans. Most people (including myself before doing more research) give GMO’s a bad rep—associating only bad chemicals and toxins with it. But GMO’s actually provide a lot of benefits for farmers, including the use of fewer pesticides and a controlled amount in the foods we consume.
The family farmers from A Fresh Look created Ethos Chocolate with a mission to educate moms about the benefits of GMO farming. There are four flavors which they’ve named: The Optimist, The Survivor, The Hero and the Trendsetter. The Optimist is cacao flavored and represents the optimism they have for the protection of cacao trees thanks to GMO’s. The Survivor, a refreshing and subtly sweet tase of papaya + chocolate represents the surviving papaya GMO’s saved after a virus nearly wiped out Hawaii’s Rainbow papaya. The Hero, a orange & chocolate blend represents the hero GMO’s will be once Florida’s oranges are saved from the citrus greening disease. And lastly, the Trendsetter (my personal fave), is an apple blend that represents how GMO farming has paved the way to non-browning apples that stay fresh longer and cut food waste.
Ethos Chocolate is not only good for you, it’s also heart-day approved! So this Valentine’s Day, do yourself a favor and buy the kind of chocolate that makes a difference. ♡ Check them out HERE! There is only a limited supply, so you want to order by February 10th to receive it in time for Valentine’s Day.
What are you sharing this Valentine’s Day? Tell me in the comments below! XO.