On Monday mornings, after I drop Madelynn off at school, McKenna and Marek and I go the the grocery store. It doesn't seem like it would make such a big difference to shop with two rather than three, but it does. I think it's an exponential thing.
On this particular Monday morning, I woke up with a croupy cough and no voice. I contemplated skipping school, but Madelynn would have been way too sad to miss the Bike Rally. So I sucked it up, doped it up and away we went! If we're out, might as well get groceries.
After getting Madelynn settled, we headed off to Wal-Mart.
It's odd to me how Madelynn's absence changes McKenna. Without the presence of her older sister, McKenna really steps up to be the helper of Mommy and protector of Marek. I will have to think of ways to nurture that through the summer....
We were wrapping up our shopping in the condiments aisle. I stood there, staring dumbly at the ridiculous number of BBQ sauces available. I mean, really. Two women were standing in the aisle, talking and I was trying to just pick a stupid bottle. One woman approached me and this is how I remember the conversation...
"Excuse me, are these your children?" she asked.
Suspiciously, I answered, "Yes".
"We also have small children and we noticed you have two small children."
"Well, my oldest is in school right now." I admit.
Turning to her friend, "See, she has THREE kids!" Turning back to me, "My friend is having a hard day today and we noticed how happy your children are, they're dressed and well behaved."
I turn around to make sure that they were, in fact, behaving. It is at this point that I have a coughing fit.
"I also notice you have a cough. Are you not feeling well?" she inquired.
"Well, I think allergies are hitting me hard today." I shrug.
To her friend, "See, she is not feeling well and here she is getting groceries with TWO kids!"
At this point I speak to the friend, "Everyone has hard days, me included. In fact, this is a rare occasion that no one is whining or crying!"
"You see, you're not alone, dear."
So I decide to impart the best advice I have, "Whenever you have a rough day, just grab a Starbucks and put on as many movies as it takes to get to resting time!"
They both laughed and I made a graceful exit, before either of my kids embarrassed me!
That conversation gave me a warm feeling inside and I just thought, it's nice when someone recognizes you're hard work. So I've decided that I'm going to do a better job of telling the moms I know, what a good job they're doing.
But, just to make sure that I'm not gettting a big head, God helps me stay humble. I'm going to share a story with you that I'm pretty embarrassed about (my mother, however, thinks it's hilarious!). Maybe this will help your day by giving you a smile or a little perspective!
I was using our new stroller for the first time at an outing with a good friend at HyVee. When I took Marek out of his car seat, he was asleep. I wrapped him up and laid him down in the stroller. No buckling necessary. As we walked around the store visiting, Marek slept away. We stopped in the baby aisle to talk about the newest, greatest finger foods, Marek started fussing. I gently rocked the stroller to soothe him back to sleep and continued visiting. He started fussing a little more, so I decided it was time to start walking again. I pushed forward on the stroller and hit resistance. I assumed I was dragging a jacket, so I just pushed harder. Nothing. As I leaned around to look, I realized MAREK WAS LYING ON THE FLOOR! He had slid out of the stroller onto the floor and I was running into him with the stroller! AAAHHH!!
I could have run out of the store, bawling my head off. What kind of mother doesn't notice when her baby falls out of the stroller? And then runs into him?!?!? TWICE?
Fortunately, I was with a good friend that knew exactly what I needed. She laughed. And hugged me. And then Marek. And then she made me laugh.
So in preparation for Mother's Day, I just want to tell all of you moms out there that I love and admire, you're doing a great job!
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I loved your story and comments. Although I didn't have a stroller or car seats etc when our six children were young, it brings back so many happy and sometimes funny memories. I, too, like to comment and praise young parents when I notice they have little ones with them. I also like to carry lots of clean Kleenex and am fast to offer it to mothers with a young child with a runny nose, ice cream dripping down their face or following a sudden fall with dirty scraped knees. Another thing I have found helpful is when I see a young child screaming, crying or throwing a fit when the usually young mother is trying to hurry to get the shopping done or waiting in the checkout line, I will walk nearby and calmly say, "It will be okay, your mommy is trying to hurry". Usually the child is so surprised to see a stranger say something and they don't know what it was and will stop. In the meantime I just state "I had six" and then continue on. It appears to calm the situation for both in most cases unless it is a seemingly sick child waiting in the Pharmacy area.
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