Words of Wisdom

I was at Macy's the other day doing a little shopping for my girls in the childrens department. At checkout, my girls were trying to climb up the counter to see what I was doing. Then they'd run over to the clothing rack and climb inside the clothes so that I couldn't see them. As I was finishing up and folding the receipt into my wallet, a woman behind me, about my mom's age, who had been observing us said to me,

"I remember those days of having young children. I felt like I had no time for myself and I always looked forward to a time when they were older so I could start having time for me again. But now when I look back on my life, those were truly the happiest times of my life. I just wanted to share that with you."

This was one of the first times I've received unsolicited advice/comments from strangers that I actually appreciated. And her comment was actually very helpful to me. Although I find myself regularly frustrated when I can't seem to get anything done because the girls always need something from me, it is so true that I am the happiest I've ever been in my life. I guess I've had this mental construct that true happiness doesn't include daily fits of frustration. But I'm letting go of that now.

Here are some other unsolicited comments I received from strangers that I did NOT appreciate:

• While traveling to Fargo by plane when Georgia was 5 weeks old , at the security checkpoint I lied and said my bottled water was for formula (this was the only way I could get my water onto the plane and I needed it desperately. I didn't trust the flight attendant could provide me the volume of water a nursing mother needs to drink). The woman who handed me back my bag said, "Breast milk is best" with a snotty look on her face.
  
• On that same trip, I decided to take a trip to the bathroom. I peeled Georgia's sweaty little body away from mine and headed to the toilet. Another passenger saw that she wasn't in a blanket and said,"Oh...she must be so cold!"