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Wednesday, December 23, 2009

The Lady Behind Me In Line Would Probably Trade Places With Me If I Let Her But Just For the Record, I Wouldn't.

I am grumpy
for 12345678910 different reasons
dragging my offspring
from store to crowded, overpriced, store
as Superman insists
on pushing the cart
bumping into
walls
and
displays
placed in the middle of the aisle (WHO THOUGHT OF THIS?!!)
I bribe
with donuts
and
chocolate
and
try one nostril breathing
(some yoga crap I saw once)
but it doesn't work
and the blood pressure climbs
as I continue to
deplete my bank account
at record speeds

We are
standing in line
and I
tell Superman to
"Knock It Offffffffffffffffff"
as he throws his
beanie baby up and down
up and down
up and down
and I growl when he
touches the gummy worm display
giving him a dirty look as I bend down
to scrape Monchichi off of
the Swine Flu-Infested Floor
I feel a gentle tap on my shoulder
and turn to meet the smiling gaze of a stranger
standing in line
alone
dressed in red
smelling of "I can shower for thirty minutes if I want to because no one pounds on the door trying to barge in"
and she says
with a twinkle in her eyes no less
that she WISHES
her son were still that age
since now he's all grown up
and it wentsofast
I imagine her twenty years ago,
standing in line somewhere
growling at her little one
she tells me how she misses those frustrating, exhausting, exasperating jaunts
with the child
who is taller than her now
and has better things to do
then stand in line with his mother
throwing beanie babies
into
the personal space
of a stranger

She watches as
Superman begins
tossing that stupid toy again
up and down
up and down
tells him what a good job he is doing
giggles at his pride
and I am reminded again
what is most important
in this very short
very fragile
very unpredictable life
so I THANK her
for saying
exactly
what this
grumpy
yet
suddenly
so grateful
mommy
needed
so badly
to hear

3 comments:

Kat said...

Oh... I'm crying again. You just have a way of doing that to me lately.
Lovely.
And just what I needed (and I suspect most mothers) to hear right now.
Thank you.
And Merry Christmas! :)

Anonymous said...

Again, another one of your blog entries that has made me cry. I will keep this in mind when my future little spitfire causes checkout line drama. :) I see this so often with other mommies too. They are only that little once so thank you!

burkeygirl said...

I too am all teared up as I read your blog... I am reminded of the many times I have been in this very kind of moment with my little darlings... And then a elderly woman just as you described comes along and tells me how much she misses moments like the one I'm in, on the brink of insanity.... She say's treasure even these times it goes so so fast; trust me!!! and then all of the sudden you feel like you can breahte again!!! I believe these are the moments that God sends his angels to us(: