Kindess of a Stranger

Saturday was, well, shall we say.... difficult. Alright, so ALL of last week was pretty difficult! My most challenging days though, were Friday and Saturday.

Friday because I was trying to get my string bean of a daughter some new pants for school and shirts that would be long enough so she could raise her arms in school. Off to the mall we went....and I dreaded almost EVERY minute of it! We get to Gymboree, Mel: "Mom, I have to go potty", so off to the elevators we go to hit the 3rd floor for the restrooms. After her freaking out and NOT going to the bathroom.... I drag them down to the first floor again.... about 15 minutes later, Mom... I have to go potty. Well... too bad, you missed your chance. We finally get done with Gymboree and I decide to let them have a few minutes to play. We do that and then we leave the mall for the night, off to get some dinner. After dinner we ended up cutting our outing short because Julia spilled her soda all over herself, it was dark, and I didn't feel like fighting them the whole way through Walmart and then maybe a thrift store. We go home and hit the beds.

Saturday we wake up WAY too early (yes, that is life with MY children), and finally get off to the store. We stop at Target first.... As soon as we get in there... Julia: " I have to go potty...." Me: "Well, you'll just have to go in your pull up" Julia: "I can't breathe!!" Me: "What do you mean??" Julia: (getting sick all in her new coat from Old Navy) We book it out of the store, as quickly as possible without looking like we just shoplifted something. Once outside, we clean Julia up. I didn't have a spare jacket in the car though... so, the poor girl had to sport a t-shirt in the chilly weather. Mark my words... I will be better prepared with extra emergency clothes for the next time. She tells me she is ok now and she's not going to be sick anymore. I'm thinking, "Good, because we were going to go back in there anyway... I have SO much to get done!!"
Back in the store we go... finish our shopping (put a bunch of whining in there too and you'll be pretty much on the nose for that trip), and off to BJ's for salad - after that one, they told me how hungry they were. I roll my eyes and think, wow... maybe you should eat some breakfast for a change! The last stop on our run was Walmart. After the stress of that and the waiting in line thing was finally done, I take BOTH carts to the car (one for kids, one for Melanie to push) and lecture them on how hard it is for me to take all three of them shopping. An older man was walking towards the store as I unloaded my children. When I got done buckling Melanie in (she is #2 of the buckling process - those of you with more than one child will understand what I mean), I come to get Hunter and see the man standing near my car. "I'll go ahead and take your carts for you once you unload that precious bit of cargo" he says. I grab Hunter and start walking him around the car, the man notices that we have out of state tags, "Is your husband military, Are you military?" Me: "Yes, my husband is." Him: "Wow, well thank you very much for your service."

Yeah, TOTALLY cried as I was buckling Hunter in the car and the man walked away. All because he offered the simplest bit of assistance! I like to park as close to a cart corral as possible to make the distance I have to walk after loading my children in the car the shortest possible. I was literally one parking space away from the cart corral and this gentleman offered to take my carts the WHOLE way to the store for me. Then, to Thank me AND my husband for our service to our country. I will be forever grateful to him and people like him that notice us young mothers struggling. Whether we are at the very end of our extremely stressful day of shopping, errand running, etc or in the middle, thank you all for noticing and lending a hand! Sir, you made my day with that bit of service you showed me AND my family. Thank YOU!!