Have You Filled a Bucket Today?

Have you filled a bucket today?????

That is the title of what has become one of our favorite children’s’ books, written by Carol McCloud and David Messing.  As it turns out, each and every one of us is carrying around an invisible bucket that gets filled when others demonstrate acts of kindness and empathy toward us. And the best part is that our bucket gets filled when we perform acts of kindness for others! Two buckets get filled at the same time! I had to process that one with the Kindergarten, First and Second Grade children, as I thought this was too good to be true. But they were able to explain to me that the reason why both buckets get filled is that when you make someone feel cared for, included, or good about themselves, it makes you feel good about yourself too, hence the “2 bucket” theory! 

We talked about how we could be bucket fillers at school, and the examples were inspiring – saying thank you to the lunch staff after clearing our trays, whole body listening when the teacher or a friend is talking, asking someone to play with you if they are alone, congratulating a friend when they win a game. And there were many others too numerous to mention.

We also talked about “bucket dipping”, or those words or actions which make people feel bad. Sometimes we feel like we are filling our buckets by bringing people down or excluding them, but in reality, we empty our own buckets as well. Some examples of bucket dipping which we discussed are telling friends that they can’t play with us at recess, or criticizing them in some way. Again, their responses reflected the level of empathy and compassion with which your children function in their everyday lives. This lesson promoted not only a good amount of self-awareness in the students, but also some perspective taking as we explored how our actions impact those with whom we interact.

At home, ask your children about the bucket filling lessons they have learned, and how they not only became bucket fillers at school, but how they can be bucket fillers at home and in the community as well. If their thoughts move you as much as it moved me and Marilena, your bucket will be overflowing!

So at the end of the day, ask yourself: “Was I a bucket filler or a bucket dipper?”