a couple of weeks ago i was walking through raley's with my head down.
i had two very loud and energetic boys with me.
i was trying to be quick, but not quick tempered, because that doesn't help. i know from experience.
we were nearly done and my nerves were nearly frazzled. i headed towards checkout when i realized i had forgotten something... in the ice cream aisle.
if you ever shop with kids, you know there are just some aisles that demand a certain level of enthusiasm. like a lot of it.
my kids were bounding down the ice cream section with a skip in their steps and a song in their voices.
"oooh, look at that."
"i want that."
"can we get this?"
"i bet that's soooo good!"
"if you buy some, i promise i'll be sweet."
i wanted to just power through the section of deliciousness and get home. a fellow shopper was making her way down our aisle. i moved aside and sharply told the boys to "make a train!" (that means line up in single file order... my boys are excellent at creating traffic jams in the shopping world by taking up lots of room and having no clue that they are doing so.)
i was surprised when the lady stopped and... smiled. "i miss this age" she said gesturing to my boys, who were spinning in circles and jumping the checkered tiles like frogs on their lily pads.
what did she just say?
the same boys who were driving me crazy reminded someone of something good and fun and wonderful. she stared at them for a moment and looked at me. "my kids are all grown up now. i miss having them be so young and carefree."
wow.
thank you lady in raley's. thank you for reminding me to find the joy in the every day. thank you for reminding me that my children are a blessing and not a burden.
i'm not saying every shopping trip from now on is going to be peachy. it's not. would i prefer to shop alone sometimes? you betcha! it's just nice to get reminders that things aren't always that bad. it's like in that moment God was saying to me to "snap out of it. look at them. see what they see."
how do you make shopping trips with the little ones fun?
6 comments:
That's awesome! It's a good reminder for me too so I thank that lady AND you for sharing about her.
Oh and I also do the line up thing - only I like yours better. I just holler out - Line up! LOL
I LOVE to read your writing! From grammer school on, you have always been so creative with words. You tell the story in such a way that I can imagine exactly what was happening... just like I was there with you. Keep up the good work! Oh, and the lesson learned was a wonderful one to remember :))))))
jill--does "line up" work?! the "make a train" doesn't always work. there is a lot of competition over who gets to be the engine--ha! i'm thinking i should call out "birth order," "shortest to tallest," or something else more specific. if you come up with something great that works, please share it!
mom--thank you :)
awesome story!! I love your posts.
I would tell mine to line up like ducklings. They would follow me, but would also quack. Nothing's perfect . . .
Ahso grasshopper ... I do enjoy your current perspective as opposed to numerous days gone past. I think it was Albert Einstein who made the point that all was relative to the observer. Nice shift in perception.
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