Keep With Kind

     What's in a friend? A lot of stuff. What's in a good friend? A whole lot more. Good friends are sometimes hard to come by. Want to know if your friend is a good one? Check out this short checklist, and see how many things you can say, "Yes! My friend is that way!" to. Count how many you say that to (each bullet is just one question, there are 11) and then check out the results at the bottom once you are done. Does your friend care about your feelings? When you are hurt (either by emotionally or physically) does your friend seem to care or even notice?  Is your friend someone you enjoy hanging out with? Do you see that friend often? Do they have (at least a few)  positive character traits? (post link) Does your friend use nice words on you and other people?  Is your friend honest? Do they tell you things and not keep many secrets? Is your friend fair to everyone? Do they share?  Are they helpful? Do they make you smile? Does your friend make you la...

     I bet you've heard about character traits at school! In reading class, probably. You've been told to assess some characters and talk about their personalities. There are so many awesome words about there to describe people. Something else you may have talked about are how there are different kinds of traits--positive and negative. Positive traits are more good things. Negative traits are more bad things. Today, I'm going to talk about some of those traits and how you can notice them in your friends to make sure you have good ones.      Good friends are truly amazing. There are SO MANY positive character traits, but I'm going to just talk about a few. For example, helpful. A friend that's helpful is important. You need someone who can help you clean up those spilled markers, set the table with you, assist you on your homework, call your parents if you fell down, etc. Those are just some examples of situations that might happen where a helpful friend is ...

       Maria sat at her lunch table, waiting for her friends to come. As she looked around, she saw a new kid. "Isn't she Anna?" Maria quietly said. She decided to go and talk to Anna, and maybe even become friends with her. "But wait... how do I become friends with her?"       Today, I'm gonna teach Maria how to make friends and maybe even you too! Let's get started: 1. Approach the person When you approach the person, don't come running to them, or quietly walking to them like your gonna scare them. Instead, try making eye contact with them. If you two see each other, wave to them and head over. That way, the person won't be startled or think your a creep or something. In the beginning, if you're making eye contact but the person won't look at you, go ahead over and maybe gently tap the person on the shoulder. Then you can start up a conversation together. Maria looked over at Anna, who was staring at her food. She seemed kind of lonely...