“Did you know that Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream, Mommy? Not a dream when you go to sleep but a dream where everybody is treated nice and everybody is equal,” my four year old informed me. I shook my head in agreement and asked, “What else do you know about him?” My daughter continued, “He’s not alive anymore, but we’ll be celebrating his birthday on Monday, January 15th!”

All week long, she and her classmates have been learning about Martin Luther King Jr, what he stood for and how they too can have dreams to make this world a better place. Her show and tell project was to draw a picture about how she can make the world a more peaceful place and what her dream for the world is.

Just last week, Quinn and I started sorting through her old toys determining which ones she wanted to keep and which ones she wanted to give away, so her response to making the world a peaceful place was giving away some of her toys to children who don’t have toys so that they can be happy and have fun. She even said that it is a way to show kindness to others. I was so impressed with her willingness to give to others. She also, said holding hands and giving hugs to her family and friends makes her feel good and might make them feel good too.

While we cannot control the views and actions of others, we most certainly can control ours, and if we make a conscious effort to learn from Martin Luther King Jr and other great leaders who were about peace, that’s a great start!

My daughter constantly reminds me that it is easier than we think to be kind to people. I have a dream that I will instill positive values within my daughter so that she will grow up to treat all people with kindness thereby doing our part to make the world a better place.

All the best,

Tanya