This has nothing to do with paint, glaze, furniture or techniques. It is all about moms and the kindness of a stranger. It has been weighing on my heart to share how I was shown the beauty of a kind women's heart.
Last weekend I ran to Home Depot to grab some paint for my daughter bedroom walls. I tried to go early because I live in the scorching depths of hell called Arizona. Even at nine in the morning it was already over 100 degrees. It was a great morning. Nothing special had happened and nothing bad had happened until we stepped foot into that store.
My little guy is 21 months and has truly been the best baby! Not that day. There were a hundred people hovering around the paint counter eying everyone around them with a "I'm next and I'll cut you if you try to go before me" look. Nearly everyone at Home Depot knows me and I thought that would be my saving grace because they usually sneak me in. Again, not that day.
My little was entertained for about 5 minutes playing with the paint chips, giving them to strangers and mixing them up when putting them back in the display. We are usually not there long enough for him to do to much damage but because I knew we would be there a while I tried to do damage control by picking him up. WORST. MISTAKE. OF. MY. LIFE.
Que the biggest, loudest, make you want to curl up in a corner and cry temper tantrum. I hadn't seen anything like it from him. Never. I honestly thought we were gong to need a priest. I tried all those mommy tricks while I was sweating bullets, literally. The mass amount of bodies in Home Depot that day sucked out any cool air they could pump in. It reeked of impatient people who did not go there to hear my son have the biggest melt down of his life.
Que the dirty looks. I was mortified. I was tempted to get out of line to take him home but I was sure his hissy fit wouldn't last long. My brain at that point stopped functioning and I was no longer capable of making any good decisions. This is why I stayed in line enduring the dirty looks and allowing my son to attempt to break the sound barriers.
Then the heavens sent me an angel. I'm tearing up just typing this part. She walked over to me with a smile on her face that said I'm here to help, I've been there. She asked how old my son was, told me about how old her boys are, and just started chatting. It got my sons attention and he let off of the screaming. I let him down and we walked around the paint counter for a few just chatting. I got to breathe. Those 5 minutes of chatting jump started my brain activity and I could breathe and think again.
I am so happy I was able to process the situation enough to thank her. I should have hugged her. She was truly my saving grace. She understood, she had been there before. She knew the struggle. I'm not sure if someone had done that for her before or maybe she had wished someone had done that for her. Either was she is my hero. From that point on I am going to strive to be a better mom-friend to strangers.
I challenge you to take the time to smile at a parent dealing with a child who is close to needing an exorcism, compliment a mom who is trying to reason with a cranky child, lend a hand to someone who has a full shopping cart and trying to wrangle her kids at the same time. You will never know the poster until it happens to you but until then share that power with everyone around you. Karma is watching.
To the women at Home Depot- I'm not sure if you will ever read this but I want the entire universe to know how extremely grateful I am!
Have you ever had an angel sent to you during your worst mommy moments?
Labels: angel sent from heaven, arizona, being a mom, grateful, home depot, karma, temper tantrums, thank you
