I know for me it's easy to get tunnel vision about my day to day life. Getting wrapped up in the bickering and fighting and the constant whining can feel overwhelming and make me feel like I'm raising a litter of honey badgers not children. And then we get thrown little bits that make it all worth while. While the cleaning ladies were here yesterday we went to Cracker Barrel for lunch. As we were enjoying our meal an elderly couple sat next to us and Madaline proceeded to charm the socks off of them. All of the kids were displaying a rare feat of excellent behavior and exemplary manners. Emma looked like she was ready to climb to the man's lap and give him her best Emma hug and Aiden was smiling indulgently at his sisters. We had some small talk about how old the kids are and how many kids they had (who are now all grown) and as we were getting ready to leave the lady told me what a happy family we were. She said it was so nice to see kids with such lovely smiles, just like their mom's, and that they were so well behaved and pleasant to sit next too. The gentleman was so charmed by Emma he told her if we didn't leave soon he'd have to keep her. For once, instead of making a comment about how this was a rare moment of calm, I just said, "Thank you!" It was lovely to have someone notice and comment on the good, not just say, "Boy you sure have your hands full!" As we walking out she said again how happy we all looked and I said, "Well, we have so much to be thankful for and happy about."
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