Just over a week ago, my family and I took advantage of the back-to-school tax break and went school shopping. I’m sure many of you were out in the bustle with us.
Imagine, if you will, a slightly haggard mom, surrounded by three energetic boys and with a darling girl in the cart. That was us. With my quantity of littles, I’ve heard it all. (Yes, they’re all mine. I know it’s a lot. Of course they keep me busy. No, we don’t actually need a bus for transport.) Taking four kids to the store (especially solo) is tiring. Unsolicited comments from people just make it more tiring.
Well, that Friday, we were weaving through the aisles at Ross, a little chaotically. My children were beyond excited to be able to pick out new clothes for their first day of school. Unfortunately, just as we’d joined the checkout line, I realized that my card, with $21 of store credit, had somehow slipped from my hands. The store was busy, and we had to slide by a number of people waiting behind us to go search for it.
I didn’t feel very hopeful. Surely someone had already picked it up.
It was crowded and we had been through multiple sections. (Spoiler: We did find it.) As we were searching the aisles, a lovely grandmother noticed my children and began to chat with me about them. She was very kind, asking if they were all mine and wondering their ages and other small details. I replied nicely, unsure of whether this would turn into a conversation where she told me that I had so many blessings or one in which I needed to justify having so many children and why I had the audacity to bring them all with me to a public place.
Turns out, it was neither.
The lovely woman indicated that she would like to bless my family and pay for our purchases. I’ve heard of this kind of thing happening, but I’ve never been the recipient of such generosity. $106, that’s what she paid for new outfits for my four children, socks, a new pair of shoes, a hair brush, pants, and a scrub brush for me. $106!
My friends, that may not seem like much, but it changed the whole trajectory of our trip. That woman didn’t know me. She never even asked my name. She couldn’t know that, as an online teacher, I don’t work in the summer, and with the added expenses at the eye doctor, the dentist, and sports fees, this has been a tight month for us. She didn’t know that I was taking my kids shopping while trying to decide whether it was worth using a portion of our savings so my kids could feel special on their first day of school.
If there is a moral to the story, it’s to make kindness your default.
Like me, you may not have an extra $106 to spare every time you see a haggard mom, but you could smile and hold the door open for her. To those who are looking, there are always ways to be kind to those around us. Maybe it’s a kind word or simply laughing when the lively children bump into you. 
To the woman who paid for our back-to-school clothes, I know I said it profusely, but once again, thank you. Thank you, not only for the clothes, but for the lesson in kindness that you shared with my children.
