Kindness is the golden chain by which society is bound together.

I often get asked by my coaching clients, how to teach children character education, and my response is always “values are caught not taught.” This means your children will learn core values or behaviours from you, when you practice them, instead of being told. The values you model to your children are then underpinned by the rules you create for your family, and one of my key values, which I think is so under-rated as a quality, is the one of kindness. So here I recount a heartfelt true story of a whole community being kind to an elderly woman who had forgotten where she lived, as told by my friend Jo, actor and cook extraordinaire. After a day out in London, meeting friends and going to a carol concert, this is what happened on her bus journey back home………..

"The day was rounded off by watching a lady get on my bus at Hammersmith. An older lady wearing children's ear muffs on a head band. She had a sweet face. She was disorientated and tried to get off the bus as soon as she had got on. Rather than be annoyed all the passengers looked on concerned, and the bus driver even opened his door to encourage her back on the bus.

This lady had forgotten where she lived.

People were so kind and thoughtful.

One lady sat next to her and encouraged her to think where along the route she might want to get off. She became distressed and wanted to get off immediately, but with the silly 533 route diverted along the Great West Road and round the Hogarth roundabout, there was no way the bus driver was going to let her get off the bus in the middle of a dual carriageway!

The bus driver was a young man, with a melodic northern Irish lilt and a kind smile. He remembered earlier in the day picking her up at Barnes pond and suggested to her that that was where she might live. At the mention of Barnes her face momentarily brightened, but it didn't stop her fear and distress. Her initial protector had to get off at Mortlake and so handed over responsibility for her to another lady who then sat and talked to her.

The bus driver then said he would stop the bus at Barnes Pond and walk with her until she recognised home and failing that he would call the police.

I wanted to hug him.

That lost lady could be any one of us, or indeed one of our family members"

So with this story in mind, as we approach the holiday season, I urge you to consider how you can model kindness for your children. For many of us it means crazy and joyful times with family, friends, and loved ones, but not for everyone. For some it's a lonely time of year, and for separated families, it can feel very poignant.

If you feel in a kindly mood, and want to say thank you to someone, you may want to gift a pack of my Parenting Made Simple Summary cards to a friend or family member. Until Wednesday 18th December, they are discounted by £10 making them only £15 exc P& P. The perfect stocking filler or gift to help you and your loved ones have more harmony at home and bring out the best in your children.

So I just want to say, you can't do kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it may be too late.

Please be kind to each other.