After a long and wearying day of traveling with our three children (6, 4, and 2), we were anxiously waiting to disembark at our final destination. I couldn’t have been more ready to get off the plane.
All three children had been especially whiny and antsy that day. I was sure everyone around us was desperate to get off, too, after being unwittingly subjected to over an hour of fussing, loud, and animated youngsters.
The stress levels continued to rise in me as the minutes ticked on and the decibels of whining increased. I was poised for someone to turn around and let out an exasperated sigh or give me a very sharp “what-were-you-thinking-bringing-these-unruly-children-on-this-flight?” look.
Read the full article over at MomLife.
My son was 2 weeks old, I had a section, & my husband just deployed…I was flying home & words can not even come CLOSE to describing my emotions at the time…and a lady did the exact same thing for me with her kind words. I’ll never forget her as long as I live.
I think the best complement I ever got regarding my son was from a little old lady. It wasn’t to do with his behavior, though I’ve gotten those as well. She said, “You look like such a happy little soul. I can tell you have a good life.”. I realized at that moment that I was doing just fine as a mommy because she was so very right. He’s a happy little soul with a great life. 🙂
Soooooooooooo true!! It is amazing what a kind word does for ones day! Great article! Thanks for the reminder!!
A few weeks ago, I was at a store and saw a completely overwhelmed mother with her three little boys. She was losing her patience and the children were getting worse. I positioned my cart so we’d meet up the next aisle and I made a huge fuss over her boys. I asked how old they were and said how cute they were. I smiled at the boys and asked them questions. It’s amazing when I walked by her later in the store, their demeanor was changed. Sometimes, we need to be reminded what a blessing our children are.
I completely agree that a kind word (or even just a sympathetic smile) makes all the difference during challenging mom moments!
I had a very similar experience at Dollar Tree one day. I had my son with me (almost three at the time). He had been disobeying the entire time we were in the store, including begging for a balloon and throwing things at me (yes, throwing things at me! Which is actually very out of character for him). I told him that because he was disobeying, we I wouldn’t be getting him a balloon (this is a treat he knows he gets sometimes in this store). In the checkout line, he threw a fit to no end (laying on the floor, stomping and screaming and all). I kept patiently reminding him that he hadn’t earned the balloon, more embarrassed than I have ever been). I was waiting for somebody to say something nasty. I had a very similar experience of having the woman in front of me turn around, preparing myself for a rude comment. She reassuringly said “You are such a good momma for standing your ground. That’s how our babies learn”. It was so nice to have this encouraging word and to have a reinforcement that not giving in on the balloon (when the would have been the easy thing to do).
What a great story! A stranger’s kind words can definitely help desperate situations. Thanks for sharing. Good luck with your marathon too!
This happens to us too. We’ve been at restaurants before when I felt like pulling my hair out because I thought our 5 boys were too squirmy or noisy only to have sweet people comment on how well-behaved the boys had been. I will have to purpose to comment on others with well-behaved children!
What’s sad to me is how many people automatically think that “my hands are full” because I have 5 young children. I mean they will make that comment when the boys are just standing there quietly. Twice in the last week, I have been reminded of the quote, “If you think my hands are full, you should see my heart!”
That’s just one of those things people say to make conversation. And most everyone knows that 5 little boys ARE a handful at least some of the time, even if they are being quiet at the moment. I bet the person is just imagining how they can be. Of course, it all depends on the tone in which it is said . . . .
I have 4 children and constantly hear about how full my hands must be – and they truly are, but that quote is precious – I’m torn over having a 5th or not and the fullness in my heart (and God’s unlimited provision for more) perfectly describes it!
I can definitely relate….a few weekends ago we were at dinner with my in-laws who were visiting. Our 2, 4 & 6 year old boys had been thrown out of their routine (no nap, visiting grandma & grandpa at their hotel, and waiting until 6:00 to eat dinner). My in-laws suggested a restaurant for dinner and I was sooo nervous how the boys would behave. They were a little squirrely, but halfway through our meal a couple came over to our table. The woman told us that they had requested a quiet table and were upset when the hostess sat us and the boys right next to them (I’ll admit….I was a little annoyed by this) but then she said that she was impressed by how well-behaved they were. It definitely made me proud, and made me realize how good they were being 🙂
Great post! Thanks for the reminder that sometimes our kids just need grace and so do strangers…..
Debbie
This is a great post! I’ve been taking my three (5, 2, 10 months) to the pool twice a week. I swim with the little boys while the 5yo has a swim lesson. Then I take all three to the locker room for showers and dressing. There’s a grandmotherly woman who comes in every Tuesday while we’re there and always has an encouraging word. Sometimes she tells me that the kids are so well-behaved. Sometimes she reminds me that this time really does go by so quickly. Her encouragement never fails to improve my attitude towards my children. I want to be that kind of encouragement to others, too!
In my experiences flying with my first son (when he was younger than 2) the vast majority of people are kind and want to help. Only once did someone make a negative comment and that had the effect of making everyone else around me being even more nice. 🙂
When I see another Mom dealing with an unruly or tantruming child I always try to say something encouraging. Even if it’s only, “Right there with you, sister.” Most of the time I think we over estimate how much our kids are “bothering” other people. We have gotten dirty looks while dragging a kicking and screaming child out of Target but most people are fairly understanding.
I agree completely!
This morning we were grocery shopping, and I lost track of my 4 yr old. I have no choice but to let her walk because her younger siblings take up all the space in the cart. I’m walking up and down the aisles calling her name, and starting to feel the stirrings of panic when a nice lady comes up beside me and asks for a description of my daughter. I give it to her and she follows me a few aisles over as I continue my search, and we eventually find my daughter quite far from where I last saw her. It brought tears to my eyes when I thanked this woman for her help, and she said Honey I would have been scared to death if that was my little one lost. Strangers can be amazing.
Soliciting prayers, I’m taking a 4 and 2 yo on an 15 hr flight to Europe to spend Christmas with my family. I don’t really care about what people think anymore. I stopped doing that a while back. I paid almost $3000 to be on the same plane with them and I can only control my kids to a certain limit. I just pray God will give us a pleasant flight.
I just flew internationaly by myself with my 4 kids (9,7,5,17mo) I’m sure they’ll do great!! And I find that as long as you are trying to keep the kids from going out of control, people are very kind and helpful.
Bring plenty of snacks (including protein!) and a few new (small) toys. We bought a portable CD player with headphones and made CDs with their favorite music for a long flight at that age.
Portable DVD players work wonders!
Being a new mom I feel that way on a daily basis, I get stares and comments if my 10 month old starts crying at a resturant or store when he’s either hungary or tired. Anytime we sit at a resturant and eat and he starts to get fussy my husband and I start to panic when all eyes turn on us. But then again he is just a child, and a wonderful child. Always happy, and smiling but he has no other way to tell me what he wants at this time but to cry or fuss. Recently I started blowing off the stares, and remarks. Generally those who have childern been there before and usually comment and awe over him saying with a giggle ” i remeber those days”, and Ive came to reliaze those who never had childern make more remarks. They never got to experince the joys of a child, and a fuss is just another wonderful way of them expressing to you what they need. I enjoyed this article! Reminds me im not alone when it comes to childern. 🙂
Great post! I know it would change my whole attitude if I heard encouraging words!