kindness of strangers

We hadn't been in the store two minutes

before I'd started thinking,

"This was a mistake.

Big.

Huge."

I missed the last two thread sales;

I sure didn't want to miss another one.

I had a whole box full of plush FOE

just waiting to be perfectly paired up with thread.

Lexi

turned into

The Beastie

as soon as we got over to the thread aisle.

To make matters worse,

optimistic fool that I am

had decided it would be fun for the kids to help match the colors.

Umm.

Not so much.

Fun for them, yes; for me,

no.

Brandon lovingly took Lexi walking through Hancocks

while we worked on our matching skills.

Josiah isn't too bad, actually.

Lily & Jeremiah may need to have their eyes checked!

I had several other things to look at

and by the time I was about ready to have them cut my fabric

I was pretty much done.

And then

this very well put together lady

with an adorable

(but huge!)

purse

stopped me and said,

"You are a good mother!"

I smiled the smile of the weary and replied,

"Well, thank-you. I don't feel much like a good mother.

I feel very impatient right about now."

It just takes so long shopping and running errands

with a passel of kids.

They love to look at (and touch) everything.

"Well, of course you are a bit impatient;

look where you are. You are in a fabric store with children."

I appreciated her comment

but

I was still weary

and I was still in a fabric store with a bunch of kids.

And I couldn't leave quite yet...

~

Then I got to chatting with the sweet little old lady next to me

while our fabric was being cut.

I asked what she was doing with her's

(I almost always do that - kinda funny, for an introvert)

and we talked for several minutes.

And she began admiring my 'lovely family'.

Then her friend, Bernie

(I refrained from telling them that is my dog's name...)

came over to visit to.

And they talked to the little ones

and praised my big helper

(whom they guessed was fifteen)

and told me over and over what a lovely family we were.

And I remembered

that

we really are a lovely family.

I forget sometimes.