Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

welcome new neighborsWhen I was growing up, our family knew our neighbors well, and they felt like extended family.  As a child, I always knew that I could go to the neighbor’s house if I ever needed help, and as a teenager, I also knew those neighbors were watching to make sure I wasn’t getting into trouble when my parents weren’t around.

My mom loves to bake, and she would often send me running over to the neighbor’s house to deliver some lovely baked good.  At Christmas time, every year she would make up an amazing platter of homemade Christmas treats for the neighbors and send me off delivering them, wrapped with a bow on top.

Now that I’m an adult living in my own neighborhood, I wanted my children to have the same kind of experience with neighbors.  It seems that so many people now-days don’t know their neighbors, and I think that is a big shame.  It is good for us, and good for our community to be on good relations with our neighbors.

I carry on my mother’s tradition of sending over baked goods for the neighbors on occasion.  I admit that I don’t do it nearly as often as her, as my baking is much less frequent than hers and my family tends to inhale the baked goods before I have the chance to share them.  However, one tradition I make sure to carry on is welcoming new neighbors to the neighborhood with baked goods.

We recently had a new family move across the street, and I finally got around to making a batch of pumpkin bread last night.  Luckily, the recipe makes two loaves, so I was able to keep one for my family and offer one to the new neighbors as a welcoming present.

Along with the bread, I included a note that offered our contact information and the names of everyone in our family.  I know that there are times when you just need to call a neighbor and ask for a favor, and I wanted to make sure that they knew that they have moved into a neighborhood where they’ll always receive a smile and a helping hand.  I also included a Kindness Card in the hopes that this small act of kindness will have a ripple effect.

Do you know your neighbors?  When is the last time you showed them an act of kindness?  I encourage you to consider the same.