As a single and, needless to say, busy mom, one of the highlights of my day is logging onto my computer every night and catching up with the world at large. First I check out stlouiskidsmagazine.com to see what’s going on with the blog, my fellow writers and things to do with kids around the city. Then I head over to stltoday.com to peek at a bit of news, and finally I stop off at Facebook to check in with my friends. My mom wonders what we would all do if there were no cell phones and texts and IMs and Facebooks to keep in touch. I do too.

I save Facebook for last because it’s where I start digging and can often get lost. It’s like looking into the medicine cabinet at someone’s house: You can click on a friend, search her friends to see if she knows someone you know, wonder why the heck she’s friends with that friend, and then search that friend to see how many others she’s friends with. Or you can look at photos of people you barely know celebrating Thanksgiving. Or look to the fan section and see who joins anything and who is picky (seriously, Jack, ’Things Guys wish girls knew ...’ and ‘I drink Gatorade. Why am I not sweating colors’?). Jack’s in eighth grade, so really, this makes sense. I’m more discriminating about my fandom.

So when my friend Laura, a busy mother of two, became a fan of Mrs. Andrew’s 2nd Grade~ Kindness Project, I wanted to check it out. For one, Laura is no Jack – she doesn’t become a fan of pages like ‘Dear Teacher ... If my hand isn’t raised, don’t call on me!’ (Again, Jack. Ah, youth!) Also, as a former second-grade teacher, my interest was piqued.  

Turns out this site, and the idea and energy behind it, are sweet little reminders of the power of good. Mrs. Andrew, a second-grade teacher at Center Street Elementary School in Oneonta, N.Y., has always stressed the golden rule to her students. This year, the class decided to start a page on Facebook promoting random acts of kindness. Their mission is to get 1 million people to become a fan of their page (their current count is 17,036). To become a fan is not just a mouse-click decision, however. The challenge is to commit at least one random act of kindness.

I got lost in the web of this site. You can read posts from fans detailing their act of kindness, click on their profiles, read about them, and so on. Most of the fans are from the United States, but the site has gone international with folks from Singapore and South Korea joining in. Lita Gillies from Melbourne, Australia, writes, “What a fantastic idea! I am still working out what my special and extraordinary act of kindness will be, but I am definitely in! Good luck, congratulations and thank you, from Melbourne, Australia.” Sandi Jenkins Gibson from Roanoke, Va., ads, “OK FB friends, let's show these young 'uns that adults aren't afraid to commit to ONE single act of kindness!!” And the posts go on and on, with little inserts from Mrs. Andrews herself, like “Create for yourself a wonderful day...☮♥☺”

The kids in the class are being exposed to an awesome piece of goodness. Being a part of all this kindness will impact them in countless positive ways. My daughter is in second grade next year. I wonder what the weather’s like in Oneonta, N.Y., ... ?

Oh, and make the fan count 17,037. I’m now on the lookout for random acts of kindness. Does not laughing at someone's photo count?

By Sharon Linde, Education Blogger for SmartParenting