random act of kindness...

today was a day such as most. left to take big sister to preschool. it was snowing. after dropping her off...little sister & i were off on errands. had to get the daddy an Rx...and had to buy some curtains...and then we had to go to panera for some deliciousness. little sister ordered her usual favorite: cinnamon scone and the orange-with-limes jones soda. i had a delightful egg souffle. and little sister shared her jones soda with me. that's just how she rolls. while we were there i do not recall what our conversation was all about. i know we talked about her taking a good nap today so she could stay up late to watch the olympics tonight (ice dancing is scheduled!). we also chatted about what to make for dinner. i suggested my famous individual meatloaves. she suggested burgers on buns and some peas. and we decided that we should probably all pile on the couch after dinner - and by all it means the daddy, big sister, her, me, ruby the dog and maybe puddy that cat - and have an all family snuggle. other than that, not sure...but we ate our deliciousness, gather up our coats, cleaned off our table and went to the restroom. then we decided to walk to another store as we still had about 45 minutes until it would be time to pick up big sister. as we walked along hand-in-hand it was still snowing and little sister was enjoying jumping in some slush-puddles when i heard a man calling, "excuse me....excuse me..." from behind us. i turned around and there was a gentleman (dressed in a full suit, tie and dress coat) coming towards us with an ariel barbie doll. the doll little sister had brought into panera, and we obviously had left behind. i thanked him, and so did little sister. he started to turn away but then turned back and said this:

"i don't want this to sound awkward or anything, but you are a really, really good mom. i heard how you were talking to your daughter and including her in some daily decisions and how she enjoyed being talked to like a person and not just a little kid. and she was so well-behaved. it was a blessing for me to be near you both while at panera."

i managed to say, "thank you, sir..."

and he interrupted with, "no...thank you for being a great mom...kids today really need that. God had blessed you richly." and he went about his day.