The other day I was at Wal Mart. Where else would I be? I was on the Ramen noodle aisle and I had my kids with me. I saw an elderly woman wearing a neck brace shopping in a motorized cart. I thought to myself, "self, you should help her." I replied, "if she wants or needs help I'm sure she's got the guts to ask for it. Besides, I don't have the guts to ask if she needs help." I didn't want to make her feel self-conscious or inadequate but I wanted to make sure she could get what she needed. In only a matter of seconds I thought many reasons not to help: I was in a hurry, I had two small children who were quiet at the time but could break out any second, etc.
The prompting to help her won and I approached her asking if I could reach up for anything for her or help in any way. She kindly responded that she was fine and thanked me for my generosity. If only she'd heard my internal debate over such a small thing. Then she commented about my 8-month-old baby and how she'd like to take her home with her. I commented, "there are days I'd let you take her home with you, believe me." She was a sweet woman.
So I kept shopping and my son told me that he felt sick. I thought he was tired or hungry, or both and I held him in my arms. I didn't get all the items on my list and decided I should just check out. Norah started crying her eyes out and luckily I had a bottle for her right there. So I have Matthew in my arms and am feeding Norah a bottle as she is sitting upright in the shopping cart as I wait in line to check out. There was a girl about 25-years-old checking out in front of me and she said, "do you want me unload your groceries for you?" I was so grateful for her offer to help me. I never would have asked for her help. She may have had the same thoughts that I had about the woman on the Ramen noodle aisle: if she wants help she can ask for it, etc. What a sweet girl, she unloaded my whole basket for me so I could check out. I almost teared up because I really DID need help, but I didn't know it. This taught me a great lesson. It didn't teach me to ask for help when I need it, it taught me to offer help to others when it seems they need it. They may graciously refuse the help, like the elderly woman did to me, or they may readily accept the help, as I did.
Pay it forward, indeed.
As a side note, my son was neither tired nor hungry. He WAS sick. And he threw up in the car. Red. A lot of red.
My world
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Friday, May 22, 2009
Today I read the saddest thing
Today I read the saddest thing I have ever read. It took the place of the former saddest thing I've ever heard of which is this: (you might probably remember hearing this in the news from about 4 years ago) That young girl (Jessica? in Florida?) that was molested by a neighbor and buried. Not just buried, but testing showed that she was buried alive. She had her favorite stuffed animal with her. I picture her all alone, buried, trying to breathe, wondering why someone would do that to her.
The new saddest thing is this: a 23-year-old mother smothered her three-year-old son and buried him in the park. She didn't just smother him. She smothered him, had second thoughts and then she did CPR and revived him. At that point she thought she was right the first time and smothered him again. What must that boy have been thinking as his mother killed him, not one, but twice. The person who gave him life, the person to whom he should be able to turn to embrace him when he is hurt... I wonder what was going through his mind. Someone found the boy in the park, his foot was not completely buried. Those poor children.
movingontohappiertopicsmovingontohappiertopics
Last Saturday our neighbors had a yard sale. I bought Matthew 15 Pez characters. He loves them. The other day Matthew was playing with one and he said, "Yoda, you are the best toy EVER!" And he starts singing the theme song from Toy Story 2 that says, "you've got a friend in me..." Then the following day he proclaimed that Buzz Lightyear was the best toy EVER. Some of the pez we got were: yoda, a storm trooper, princess leah, luke, chewy, darth vader, bobbafet?, bob the builder, mr. incredible, his wife, and their two sons (daughter not available), and I can't remember the rest. He loves them.
So Norah is nowhere near crawling. I know it is because for a couple months she has been sitting up really well. So when I'd put her down I'd sit her up and let her play with toys. Other babies would be rolling around and exploring things, but I'd just sit her down. That was not helpful to her. But now that she is rolling everywhere I have to keep the floor free of choking hazards. Painful.
I'm so glad spring is here. It is already getting hot in the mornings and I turned on our AC yesterday at 9 a.m. I love mowing our lawn. Maybe because it is about 300 square feet. I am excited to plant our garden. I know I should have done it already.
Last night for scouts we went to see one of our boys play his little league baseball game. They lost and I'm not sure what the final score was, but I'm proud of our scout, he hit a home run!! The boys are really cute and I have a fun time.
I have two friends that are pregnant and I always get jealous when people are pregnant because I loved being pregnant. I don't, however, get jealous when the baby is actually taken home. I loved being pregnant, I loved being in the hospital, I even liked the hospital food. But we've started giving away our baby things: swing, clothes, etc. It feels nice.
When I was on my mission I was at a member's home. We were there with two elders. I served in Hungary and my brother served in Austria. Hungary and Austria border each other. During this one particular meeting with the member I showed him a picture of my brother on his mission. The member said, "that looks like my mother's apartment, but she lives in Austria." I said, "my brother IS in Austria." We got to talking and it turned out that it WAS his mother's apartment and she lived near the elders or the branch house or something. Anyway it was really interesting. Funny thing is that Dave (my husband) is one of the elders that was there.
Well, my son just woke up from his nap (a rare treat) and I should stop rambling and go give him a hug. A long one.
The new saddest thing is this: a 23-year-old mother smothered her three-year-old son and buried him in the park. She didn't just smother him. She smothered him, had second thoughts and then she did CPR and revived him. At that point she thought she was right the first time and smothered him again. What must that boy have been thinking as his mother killed him, not one, but twice. The person who gave him life, the person to whom he should be able to turn to embrace him when he is hurt... I wonder what was going through his mind. Someone found the boy in the park, his foot was not completely buried. Those poor children.
movingontohappiertopicsmovingontohappiertopics
Last Saturday our neighbors had a yard sale. I bought Matthew 15 Pez characters. He loves them. The other day Matthew was playing with one and he said, "Yoda, you are the best toy EVER!" And he starts singing the theme song from Toy Story 2 that says, "you've got a friend in me..." Then the following day he proclaimed that Buzz Lightyear was the best toy EVER. Some of the pez we got were: yoda, a storm trooper, princess leah, luke, chewy, darth vader, bobbafet?, bob the builder, mr. incredible, his wife, and their two sons (daughter not available), and I can't remember the rest. He loves them.
So Norah is nowhere near crawling. I know it is because for a couple months she has been sitting up really well. So when I'd put her down I'd sit her up and let her play with toys. Other babies would be rolling around and exploring things, but I'd just sit her down. That was not helpful to her. But now that she is rolling everywhere I have to keep the floor free of choking hazards. Painful.
I'm so glad spring is here. It is already getting hot in the mornings and I turned on our AC yesterday at 9 a.m. I love mowing our lawn. Maybe because it is about 300 square feet. I am excited to plant our garden. I know I should have done it already.
Last night for scouts we went to see one of our boys play his little league baseball game. They lost and I'm not sure what the final score was, but I'm proud of our scout, he hit a home run!! The boys are really cute and I have a fun time.
I have two friends that are pregnant and I always get jealous when people are pregnant because I loved being pregnant. I don't, however, get jealous when the baby is actually taken home. I loved being pregnant, I loved being in the hospital, I even liked the hospital food. But we've started giving away our baby things: swing, clothes, etc. It feels nice.
When I was on my mission I was at a member's home. We were there with two elders. I served in Hungary and my brother served in Austria. Hungary and Austria border each other. During this one particular meeting with the member I showed him a picture of my brother on his mission. The member said, "that looks like my mother's apartment, but she lives in Austria." I said, "my brother IS in Austria." We got to talking and it turned out that it WAS his mother's apartment and she lived near the elders or the branch house or something. Anyway it was really interesting. Funny thing is that Dave (my husband) is one of the elders that was there.
Well, my son just woke up from his nap (a rare treat) and I should stop rambling and go give him a hug. A long one.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Quote By President Monson
A friend had this on her blog and I had to share it.
If you are still in the
process of
raising children . . .
be aware that the
tiny fingerprints that
show up on almost every
newly cleaned surface,
the toys scattered about
the house,
the piles and piles
of laundry
to be tackled will
disappear all too soon
and that you will
-to your surprise-
miss them profoundly.”
President Thomas S. Monson
This is now taped to my fridge.
If you are still in the
process of
raising children . . .
be aware that the
tiny fingerprints that
show up on almost every
newly cleaned surface,
the toys scattered about
the house,
the piles and piles
of laundry
to be tackled will
disappear all too soon
and that you will
-to your surprise-
miss them profoundly.”
President Thomas S. Monson
This is now taped to my fridge.
Monday, May 4, 2009
.........
The top picture is probably as close to a family picture that we will get anytime soon. When you look at the one of Norah in her crib please imaging a song playing in the background: "Fat Bottomed Girls" by Queen. I never have anything to say on my blog.
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