Wife and Mommy

My friend Jessica of A Parent In Silver Spring fame has issued a Kindness Challenge…which she herself got from her friend Becky…who got it from Patience.  Did you follow that train?

Here’s how it goes:  just post in your own blog or comment here with an Act of Kindness you have given or received, and promise yourself you’ll Pay It Forward.  Cheesy, yes, but it totally works.

This is mine.  It happened last May and I am copy/pasting from what I wrote back then:

Bito likes to walk on speed bumps.  He thinks they are great.

Today, after we ran an errand at the bank, I said we could walk along the speed bump.  The parking lot was fairly empty, so it was a perfect time to do it.  I was wearing BabyMuffin in the pouch facing out, and Bito took my hand.  Once we reached the other side, we turned around to go back again.  A luxury sedan stopped a few feet away, waiting to go over the bump.

And then, my right foot gave out from under me and I went hurtling to the ground.  What a horrible moment of fear–I didn’t want to land on Bito, but I also wanted to protect BabyMuffin from hitting the ground.  Talk about Sophie’s Choice.  I ended up knocking Bito to the ground and half-landing on him–my right knee prevented me from falling with my entire weight on him.  He was more surprised than anything.  BabyMuffin was fine…I don’t think he even registered that something had happened.  My right knee got scraped up and my hands had asphalt scrapes on them and I was shook up.

There I was, lying on the parking lot–well, on the speed bump.  I was shocked and hurt, with a screaming boy next to me and a baby on me…and all I could think about was how I was inconveniencing the driver of the sedan (to quote my friend Jill:  I’m a giver)!  I got us up as quickly as we could and hobbled us over to the sidewalk, where we collapsed on an empty bench.

I dug some babywipes out of my purse and dabbed my bleeding knee off.  Bito was still crying, but he had no injuries–he was just being dramatic.  I gave him a hug and wiped his tears away.  BabyMuffin stared into space and contemplated his belly button.

An older gentlemen approached us and asked kindly, “Are you all right?  I was standing at the teller window and saw you fall.  I’m sorry I couldn’t come out sooner to help.”  Embarrassed, I assured him we were fine.  He asked if he could get me some bandages from the CVS (as the blood was spewing from my knee).  I thanked him and said we had a first aid kit in the car.  He said, “You were hurrying because of that car, weren’t you?  Amazing that driver didn’t even roll down his window to see if you were all right.  What’s the matter with people these days?”  He kind of muttered those last two sentences as if they weren’t to be heard by me.  We said our good-byes and parted ways.

I appreciated him for stopping to see if a frazzled mother with two kids needed some help.  He restored my faith in mankind.

Okay, your turn!  There are always random Acts of Kindness going on in this world.  Let’s celebrate them!  Post them here in the comments, or in your own blogs and let me know where I can read them.