Macaroni Mom

Today I read through a few journal entries and a couple of talks I have written. I had completely forgotten about the following incident. “The other day I took my two oldest children with me to do some shopping. A., age 4 and M. age 2. Our third stop was a hasty trip to the grocery store and by the time we were in the checkout lane, I was wishing we were home. M. was persistently begging me for a cookie while his heavy eyelids threatened to close at any moment. And A. was earnestly petitioning me for a bag of Cheetos. M. handed me a couple of items as I hurriedly unloaded our cart and hoped we could quickly exit.

When we had unloaded all of the groceries, I left M. in the cart and the woman behind us smiled as she handed M. a small package of macaroni and asked, “Would you like to help me?” He happily placed the package down and was soon engrossed in aiding this perceptive woman. I think she let my son place almost every item of hers on the conveyor belt for her.

It was such a simple act, but it made M. so happy--and me too as I was able to pay for the groceries without a struggle. She seemed to me a woman who had probably had small children herself. I was so appreciative of her kindness--that a total stranger would show such genuine interest in my son touched me."

I love that macaroni mom. She lifted the heavy fear of impending meltdown from my shoulders. I don't know if she had raised children of her own, but I could see she certainly knew how to mother children. Have you had the chance to be a macaroni mom? Has anyone else done something simple that meant a great deal to you? I’d love to hear about it.