Imagine realizing Wednesday morning that you’re out of milk and all five of the kids are begging for cereal. A “quick” trip to the store won’t be so bad, right? We just need to get milk and maybe a few things for dinner. I quickly do a mental check of every item needed and it’s time to load em’ up!
You walk hand in hand with your children from the sliding door of your minivan to the sliding doors of the grocery store, pretty much unscathed. Although your patience is a tad shot, with having to remind little humans to hold hands and to make sure they stop for the cars barreling down the lanes. You walk in, frantically searching for the “golden” double cart. Alright, pile em’ in! Your cart looks like a circus, you take note of it before pushing off into the oblivion of curious strangers.
You’re approached immediately by two friendly women who are genuinely curious; “Are they all yours?”
A few minutes later you are approached by a middle-aged man; “You sure have your hands full!”
Next up is a middle-aged woman with a little bit of a snarky attitude; “Better you than me!”
Followed by an older woman walking with a cane; “Are they twins? Triplets?”
As you’re turning away from the bread aisle you lock eyes with another woman who judgingly passes by you with a “You’re not having any more right?”
You forgot to grab the milk so you high tail it back to the big refrigerators when another woman approaches, “My goodness these can’t be all of yours right? You do know you have to pay for college and weddings for them all right? Is your husband fixed? Are you fixed?”
Did I mention all of the people who didn’t approach and just stared as we walked by? Even doing some double takes? Or the others who turned to who they are with and whispered some form of the comments above?
But then, you’re approached by an older gentleman who sort of reminds you of your grandfather, and he GIVES YOU A HUG. You remind him of his own mother as a young boy and the two of you exchange an entertaining conversation about his childhood and how blessed you are to have so many little ones.
A lot of people will tell me about their friends or family who have twins, or they will tell me about their own mothers having lots of kids. Some people will really like to strike up that conversation just so they can be near our family. People are fascinated by large families these days! It can make for some really cool exchanges, especially when I’m not expecting them.
Then [there are] the people who are just not friendly, and feel as though their opinion of my lifestyle needs to be heard loud and clear. But there’s a way in which to approach someone like me. There’s no need for negativity. It’s perfectly okay to walk past me and tell all of your friends about me later in the day if you don’t agree with the number of children I have. What I don’t need are those rude comments. My children hear them and let’s keep the negativity away from their young ears, okay?
I’m always nice to people in public. I know people are curious by nature so I am always sweet and polite, even when they are rude. I genuinely love talking about my family. Most people are so genuine that it makes for a really nice trip. I never know the type of people I will meet on any given day, which makes the day exciting in a way.
But if [there are] things I wish people would do it would be these: