I was out shopping with my three children four and under today. This is never an easy task. I often see my worst self during these outings. I mean, how can you fit anything in a cart when it is full of children? And if you can't fit anything in your cart, why even go shopping? Right? But alas, there are times when it is necessary to venture my circus out into the real world.
I get stared at quite a bit.
I get the, "You have your hands full."
I even get the occasional whisper about how my oldest child doesn't exactly match my other two.
But I don't let too many things bother me out there. I keep on keeping on. The more I let someone else's comments bother me, the more stressful the whole shopping with three children thing is going to be. Less stress is better.
But today something happened that really made me think about our world. I was venturing out to purchase some supplies for a church banner I am currently working on, and so I made a stop at Hobby Lobby. If you have ever been there, you know they have the smallest carts in the history of the world. You may also know that they sell thousands of tiny breakable things. Things pre-schoolers and toddlers should never come into contact with.
So, the dilemma presents itself.
My youngest was slinged onto me, and the boys asked if they could ride on the two sides of the cart.
A rite of passage, right? I did it when I was little - the rush of the wind in your hair as you hang on for dear life around tight corners, brushing with death at each periling moment.
OK, maybe I am upping the adrenaline here to help you understand what happened next.
I passed a woman waiting in line at the check-out, and as I passed, she not-so-quietly said to her friend, "See her? I can't even watch when people do what that women is doing to those children!"
I instinctively looked around me waiting to find someone hurting a child.
Nope. It was me. I was the point of this woman's total disgust. Me and my crazy kids standing on the sides of the cart.
Look, I am quite certain there have been terrible accidents with kids on carts. I know somewhere in the world someone has broken an arm or maybe two. Maybe somewhere in the world a toddler even died from doing this. The reality is I really feel the need to explain myself - to tell you how small those carts are and how gently I was steering...to tell you how I didn't take my eyes off of them for even one second. Should I let my kids ride on the sides of the cart? The question to end all questions. And I will let you judge me or the question on your own.
I am not here to answer that question.
I am here to plead with the world to give us moms a break.
There are so many things out there to be scared of, and there are so many stories of how people have died in freak accidents. That world out there is scary. I get it. I know it. Every. Mom. Knows. It.
There is only so much I can do to protect my children. I try to do it everyday. Quite frankly, I usually say no to their pleas for the death-defying cart ride. But sometimes I let my hair down and get crazy. I let them do the things kids want to do. I let them feel the wind in their hair.
If I didn't, I am afraid of how afraid they might become of this world. If I didn't, I would drive myself and my children absolutely crazy. I can't save them from everything. What I can do is my best. What I can do is support women out there doing their best.
So, today, dear world, I plead with you for a little mercy and kindness. I plead for us to start worrying about the things that really matter and stop terrifying the moms out there doing their best. And maybe we should all hop on the side of the cart once in awhile and remind ourselves of what it feels like to have the wind in our hair.
