Random act of kindness

So this weekend Hubby went up to Washington to visit some friends and go golfing.  Ordinarily I probably would have tagged along with the boys and used the trip as an excuse to visit family in Washington, but this time I had a dentist appointment I needed to be here for.

For some unknown reason, I am always way more productive and mellow when Hubby is out of town.  I don't know if it's the calming predictability of calling all the shots, or the absence of  little boy vs daddy knight/wizard/dragon battles in the living room but I always get so much more accomplished!  Last night I felt so great as I headed to bed because the house was sparkling, my homework was completely finished and I had a plan for the morning.  When we all rolled out of bed this morning I made french toast with fruit and orange juice for everyone, did a little assigned reading while the boys watch a movie and Little-Bug napped, then we headed out and took care of the grocery shopping.

Yes, everything was going very smoothly...until it was time to leave the store and Little-Bug fought his car seat like it intended to munch on him for a little afternoon snack.  Big-Bug and Middle-Bug were both fully harnessed, waiting patiently while I strained to wrangle Little-Bug (who suddenly seemed to have 8 limbs) into his car seat which is conveniently (NOT!) positioned in the center of the back seat.

As I battled the baby, I suddenly detected the presence of someone coming up behind me.  Any of you moms probably know what I am referring to, that person who parks next to you in the lot and has the perfect timing to come out at the exact moment you are blocking their door while you buckle a child? At this point I am obviously already stressed and so I pretend not to notice the person who is lingering behind me and continue struggling with the baby, trying to distract him with silly sounds and songs with no success.

About then, the mystery person behind me walks around the back of my car to the other side window (at which point I am cringing because I am anticipating a "come on lets hurry it up!" gesture of some kind)  When she gets to the window she starts tapping and waving at Little-Bug, who is completely intrigued and calms down instantly. I buckled his straps as quickly as I could and then began pouring my gratitude on this stranger.  I seriously almost hugged this lady.

Such a simple gesture, but one that made a HUGE difference to my day.

By the time we made it home from the store I was back to feeling ambitious and decided to mow the lawn and sweep off the driveway.  I went through the gigantic process of laying out all the necessary yard tools, setting up the playpen and a selection of toys for Little-Bug, getting out the soccer ball and scooter for the big boys and FINALLY, I was ready to mow the grass.  I walked the boys across the street to the baseball field in front of our house and set Little-Bug in his playpen on the front porch.  As I was just about to start up the mower, Big-Bug hollers to me "Middle-Bug peed his pants."  *sigh* back into the house we all go.  At the end of a three hour process I finally managed to mow my tiny front lawn and sweep the driveway...the neighbors had better notice!