I spent a few hours this weekend trying to squeeze more potential storage spaces out of our storage-space-free house, which meant a trip to Bed Bath & Beyond for containers.
This excursion led to two discoveries:
1. Elizabeth Arden’s Ultra Plush Robe is wonderful. I didn’t mean to buy it, but I ran my hand over it while I passed by on my way to the storage container section, and it was so soft that I had to check the price. And once I saw it was $39, I owned it. I think you should own it, too.
2. Two-year-olds don’t like Bed Bath & Beyond much, especially at naptime (oops). I learned this when my son had a full-on, collapse-on-the-floor-style meltdown in the checkout line that resulted in me turning into one of those awful people who asks the people on line in front of them (who, in my defense, were sifting through an enormous stack of coupons extremely slowly while the cashier waited) exactly how long they think they’re going to be. It was so bad that two women came to my assistance with a battalion of squeaky dog toys (dog toys!) that they thought might help distract him, and a third said, “Don’t worry, mama. Everything is going to be okay.”
Which it was. After we left.
But seriously: those women made my day.
My friend Morgan posted the other day that people are always seeing her out and about with two small kids, and saying “Wow, you’ve got your hands full!”…and while that sentiment is coming from a good place, still: it would be so much nicer if they would say, “Hey, you’re doing a great job.” Or even offer to help. It’s true: when you’re out in the world with a kid who decides – as kids do, from time to time – to behave less-than-perfectly, you feel like such a spectacle, like you’re the worst parent who has ever existed, and now everybody in Bed Bath & Beyond knows it. And having someone say to you that you’re doing just fine – or come running with a squeaky toy – can be the biggest lift in the world.
It does take a village, and those small kindnesses can make you feel like you’re living in one.
