A Random Act of Kindness

NaBloPoMo prompt for the day: Tell us about one time you benefited from the kindness of strangers.

 I don't have a life changing story to tell, just a little incident in a parking lot.

I had a stranger help me at the grocery store last year. I had my four month old son strapped my chest in his carrier, my 2 year old daughter in the seat of the cart, and a heavy cart load of groceries. I was preparing to load the groceries in the trunk of the car and the cart started to roll away from me. A very friendly woman saw me struggling to hold the cart in place and keep the 2 year old from climbing out. She came up to me smiling and said. "Let me hold that for you. I get it, I have been there too!"  She held the cart for me while I got the kids situated in their car seats. I thanked her profusely and loaded the groceries in my trunk.

It was such a little thing, and took two minutes out of her day, but it helped me so much.  It made me feel like I wasn't alone on the island of motherhood that I sometimes feel like I inhabit. That little acknowledgment that she had been there too, felt so validating.  My always inquisitive daughter asked "Who was that?" and "Why did that lady hold our cart?"  It led to a conversation about being kind and helping others.  She continued to ask about that lady for some time.

I am grateful that the kind stranger held my cart, that she unknowingly gave me a needed mental boost, a exposed my daughter to random acts of kindness.