The Wisdom of a Stranger

You know, sometimes people can really suck. Like the lady in the grocery store who told me that my babies couldn’t be twins, because they “didn’t have the same hair.” Or the socially challenged check-out guy at Walmart who (while looking at my plastic Christmas ornaments) said that his parents always had glass ornaments even when they were little because the kids in his family “knew how to behave.” Really? Thanks for that.

But you know what? People can also be awesome. Take today, for instance. I may have mentioned before that the twins are in a new, ahem, phase that is literally making me want to run for the hills. After two days of what has seemed like one continuous tantrum, this morning I was feeling pretty defeated as I pushed my motley crew through the produce aisle. We were almost through when Little Man started whining rather loudly, pointing at the bag of juicy apples I had just put in the cart. Just then, one of the grocery store employees appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, with a little cup of apple slices. God bless that man! Crisis averted. Then, as I was turning the corner into the pasta aisle, a woman stopped me by putting her hand gently on my arm. ”You have beautiful children,” she said, and then hurried off to continue her day. I remained there for a moment, tears pricking behind my eyes, thankful beyond words for the kindness of a stranger.

I doubt that woman had any idea how much her words meant to me. Because you know what? I do have beautiful children! Children who right now are at a stage in life where they are not quite babies but not quite kids, which has to be incredibly exciting and frustrating at the same time. I can see it in their actions; one second pushing me away, the next clinging to me for dear life. Add to it the fact that they are twins; they have to share everything, including Mommy, every moment of every day. No wonder they are so mercurial! It’s like my husband said the other day, living with our children is like riding a roller coaster. The lows are pretty bad, but the highs are incredible. We just have to learn to let go of the lows and relish the highs as they happen.

Until Next Time,

Twodaloo!

Linking up to:

You might also like: