It’s amazing how someone’s kind words can totally change your attitude. Last night a wonderful lady did that for me. It was 6:30 and I was hurrying to pick up my oldest from the after-school program on campus. I was starving. It was cold. The kids were starting to get grouchy and the baby was tired, clingy, and crying.
I’d been in rush-hour traffic with 3 small children and I was desperate to get home. I zipped across the school parking lot, snagged the closest parking space and pulled all the kids out of the car without even closing the doors behind me. This of course left the dome lights on and exposed our nasty, toys-and-snacks-cluttered inside of the minivan exposed to the world.
I don’t know if you’ve ever been late to childcare pickup, but it’s a stressful experience! And of course it’s the time when your kids choose to slow you down tremendously.
I sped across the campus and up the ramp to the Boys & Girls Club building, toting a whimpering one-year-old and frustratingly repeating common sense instructions to my three-year-olds.
“No, you can’t run through the sprinklers. It’s 50° outside.”
“Don’t take your shoes off.”
“Stop climbing the fence.”
By the time I had corralled all three little ones into the Boys and Girls Club office, my hair was coming undone because the baby kept going on my ponytail and I was… Let’s just say, not at my perkiest. 😉
I located my son, who in true tweenager fashion immediately started grumbling to me about something. With everything I’d been through in the last 20 minutes I was having to work really hard at not losing my patience.
Then along came my sweet friend. Her twin boys and my son were the last three kids on campus that day. Tall, with short blond hair, she always has a smile on her face. While we’ve never really done anything together, our kids have known each other since kindergarten. After signing our boys out of the Club, we all made our way back to the parking lot together. She started telling me how great I look, how wonderful my children are, how sweet their voices sounded, how pretty the girls looked in their sparkly shoes (I think that last one was mostly for the girls’ benefit ;).
I got in the car and instantly a wave of peace fell over me. I was so uplifted by those kind words that all of my stress and anxiety melted away. I couldn’t believe it. The woman’s simple gesture of saying a few nice things to us made such an impact on me that night. It totally changed my mood around and made me realize what an amazing effect kindness can have on someone.
I’m sharing this story for a few reasons. I want to help spread kindness and encourage moms to keep on lifting one another up because it really does make a difference! But also, I need a little reminder myself. Hopefully opening up and being honest about my weaknesses (getting frustrated, being impatient) will help me remember to keep those reactions under control. And now that I know how good it can make a person feel to hear compliments, maybe I’ll remember to give them more often.