Last week Rory was out of town and I had a babysitter lined up so I could meet with a friend. Our plans changed, so that I had a babysitter coming, but nothing planned. I thought about cancelling the sitter, but then I came to my sweet senses.
There are many things a girl might do with three unexpected hours to herself. I thought hard about what I would most like to do with my time. And then it dawned on me: grocery shop without my kids. So I went and it was wonderful. (And while in the milk aisle I had the brilliant idea to schedule a pedicure, lest you think I'm super dumb with my sudden free evening.)
It was in the cereal aisle that I came upon the two-year-old that I had heard screaming most of the time I was shopping. The two-year-old sat in the front of the cart, and there was an infant in its carrier in the basket of the cart. The mom was pushing with a four-year-old walking behind. The two-year-old was not happy. At all.
I went to check out and as I stood in the long, long line, I could still hear this kiddo even though their check out lane was not close to mine. And then I heard that little newborn wake up and scream as if it was starving to death. Of course it wasn't, but it thought it was. The cries from that baby were so intense I was worried I was going to start producing milk again.
Out in the parking lot, I could still hear this family and just as I was about to sit down in my car, I opened the trunk again to get the donuts out so I could eat them on the way home. I looked three rows down and saw the mom, peeling bananas for her kids, loading the groceries in the back all while the baby screamed its sad story.
And something came over me and I knew what I had to do. I walked right through those three rows of cars with my donuts in hand and said to the mom, "It sounds like your kids are really hungry. I know because I have two little kids at home myself. But I bet you are hungry too. And I wondered if you wanted a donut for the ride home. I was about to eat one myself on my drive home and thought it sounded like you might want one too." She looked so stunned and said, "I do. I do want a donut." (Ha!) And then I looked in her minivan, right into the eyes of her children and told them, "This is your mom's donut. You guys have banana's, but this donut is just for your mom, okay?" And they nodded in terrified obedience.
I walked away back to my car, opened the box again and began to eat my own donut. Because moms deserve donuts.
9 comments:
I don't even know what to say because this post made me laugh and cry. This is such a Mommy's story and SO thoughtful of you. The next time I hear a baby crying at Target I am going to go buy some donuts to share!
This made me cry. Thank you for being unafraid to be kind! What a good example for us kids of all ages.
Where are the rest of those doughnuts?
Laughing and crying here too.
Bless you.
(Also snickering at Rory's comment.)
Oh my, I am totally welled up after reading this post. Good job, Becca! So sweet of you to take care of that mom. We need to watch out for each other!
Love love the new design, so cute!! Also, you know how much I love donuts, you're a sweet life saver to that mom, seriously.
And Rory's comment, ha!
That mother will tell the story of the kindness of a stranger for the rest of her life.
What a great idea! I think I would have cried if I were in her shoes... she will never forget that!
And here I thought this blog was going to be on how you made old fashioned donuts with a chocolate glaze...it was much better than that, and inspired me to reach out to a struggling Mom!
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