Helpful Strangers
Posted by Rachel Balducci in Family on Monday, December 21, 2009 2:55 PM
This morning I took the five boys out to do a little shopping. It would have been nice to have the shopping cart pictured here.
Each year, we draw names among the brothers to exchange “Secret Saint” gifts, and I brought them to the local sports emporium to pick out their presents for each other.
At one point, as I stood with one boy to look at an item, I saw Henry bolt. In the two seconds it took for me to have my oldest son grab him, a nearby shopper asked me (loudly) if I realized my baby was running away.
“I sure do,” I said, thanking her. Before the woman and I were even done with our exchange, Ethan and Henry were back by my side.
In the midst of this, I found myself mildly agitated. Yes I have a handful of boys with me and yes, I’m going to draw a tad more attention than the average shopper because of this. Why was she so quick to point out this escape to me? What was she trying to say? I wanted to explain that I had things perfectly under control thankyouverymuch.
If you’ve ever been on the other end of one of these shopper exchanges—if you’ve been the one to point out an escapee to a mom shopping with her brood—than you probably recognize this as a totally harmless, without-motive interaction. This is what I am going to focus on, that this woman really was trying to help—that she was not trying to editorialize that my hands were full or that I had no business being out shopping with so many young men.
Here is what I decided in that moment: to live by the little way of St. Therese of Lisieux. As she writes in Story of a Soul, “I had a great desire to defend myself. Happily there came a bright idea into my mind and I told myself that if I began to justify myself I would not be able to retain my peace of soul.”
Letting it go takes effort, but ultimately this is where we can find the greatest peace, especially in these moments of slight discomfort.
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