Love Thy Neighbor

The Lounge is that special area of urbanmoms.ca reserved for member submissions. So sit back and enjoy this week’s submission, brought to you from Kara of Peachland (gotta love that name!), BC.

Often at the end of my days I sit down on my couch with a cup of tea and say to my husband “What a great day!” other days…not so much!  As the mother of 4 children under the age of 7 I often find myself in situations where I underestimate what can happen if just one little thing strays from the plan I had in my head.

Let me be so bold as to provide an example of this I had just recently. Lets call it “A trip to the grocery store…..gone bad”. I was out for a quick trip to pick up the essentials needed to run every household with small ones.  Everything was going along as planned, we made it through unscathed (and did I mention I was out with 3 year old twins and a 16 month old with a fever/ear infection!!)  So everyone is loaded into the van, we are ready to head home and wouldn’t you know it the van decides today is the day it won’t start.  Now not only does it not start but nothing works, no door locks, no auto door etc., you get what I am saying, disaster!  Well, I call my hubby, he is not available, he is conducting an interview or something of the sort, I am really not interested in listening at this point. 

Remaining calmish (Serenity Now, I keep saying under my breath!)  I unload the kids and the groceries, trek into the store ready for a walk in the 30 degree weather to my husband’s work to get a ride home.  As I tell my story to the lovely ladies at the local grocery store not only am I met with sympathy, but the owner offers to drive me, my three darlings and my groceries home.  Talk about going above and beyond, she hardly knows me and she offered, no she insisted that she give us a ride home, like it was no big deal!  I sighed a great sigh of relief, thanked her profusely and we made it home safe and sound (leaving hubby a message to deal with said dead van).  We try to teach our children everyday do unto others as you would have done unto you.  A moment like this was such a teaching moment.  We baked a ton of cookies and made a beautiful card and took them down (once said van was back on the road) as a small token to thank her for her kindness.

This isn’t the only occasion where I have experienced an act of kindness so sincere and so life altering by a member of our community.  Maybe it’s life in a small town or maybe we just are lucky to be surrounded by wonderful people.  I don’t know but when a neighbor shows up at my door with fresh baked muffins or cookies just because.  Or another one supplies us with month’s worth of frozen fruit because “the kids will enjoy it and it’s so good for them”.  Or another neighbor hops the fence on a daily basis to play chase with my kids, pet the dog and offer me a bit of advice here and there.  Or even better has the kids over for an ice cream and some morning cartoons just because they love them.  I mean really does it get much better than this?  Most days, I think not.  I count the blessings in our lives and try to “Love thy neighbor” as much as they love us and our brood.

So really the point of this article is to say thanks to those whose random acts of kindness pick up our mommy spirits on the days that sometimes feel not so good and make us remember how very loved we are.

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