Stranger Kindness

Back at the beginning of the month, we returned from Buffalo, Luke left for the national focus conference SEEK2015 and the kids came down with terrible colds. Runny nose, headache, sore throat, sneezing, coughing...and they fell like dominoes. First Owen, then Casey, then Hailey. With the help of my Homeopathic book for Infants and Toddlers and consulting one of my best friends and her mother-in-law, we decided on a remedy (Belladonna) and I headed off to Wegmans to get it.

I was trying to be quick, and the kids were doing ok, when we got to the checkout line. Hailey and Casey were poking at some displays nearby of toys, and I keep telling them not to touch anything. Then Hailey sees the isle with gift bags and tissue paper. She points and says, (very loudly), "Mommy, we forgot to get baby Jesus a present! We need a present for BABY JESUS!"

I notice the lady in the checkout line next to me obviously heard her, she had been glancing at the kids and did I notice the trace of a smile cross her face?? I couldn't tell....but I calmly answer Hailey and tell her, "that's very sweet of you Hailey, but Jesus' birthday is over...even though we are still celebrating Christmas." She moved on but I thought to myself, that wasn't a very clear answer for a 4 year old, but it was the best I could do right now, in the grocery store.

I turned back and noticed how sad and sick Owen looked sitting in the front of the grocery cart. And he wasn't fussing, but just looked like he wanted to be held. (He had a tiny fever). So I take him out to hold him and he just puts his head on my shoulder and I rub his back.

Then of course it's time for me to start unloading my groceries. I start trying to call the kids over to help, they ignore me, and I was about to put Owen back in the cart and the lady who was in the lane next to me is all of a sudden at my side saying, "you hold him, poor baby looks sick...let me help you." And she starts unloading my things. Hailey and Casey of course then decide helping is fun and they come back over.

Now the lady's cart was still sort of in the check out lane she had been standing in and people are coming up, wanting to go through that check out line and so someone next to us tried to move it, and someone says, "no that's her cart. She's helping that young mom." And someone else says, "oh well here, let me unload her cart."

So she's doing mine and someone else is doing her's. It was so beautiful and awesome. I got choked up for about 10 seconds. Come on, sleep deprivation plus stranger kindness, yep, I'll get teary eyed for sure.

(and just in case anyone was curious, the Belladonna worked beautifully and everyone was on the mend in no time!)