Inspired By Compassion

I want to take this opportunity to share another story.

Two years ago, I went to Toys 'R Us with a friend - living in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, that means over an hour drive to Appleton, Wisconsin. At the time I would have had a five, three and one year old. At this particular Toys 'R Us, they used to have an indoor playground and parents would let their kids romp around on rainy days.

So…a few minutes in, I discover my middle child is going to have a rough day…not sure why, but all the sudden he was aggressive, crabby and fairly unreasonable. His older brother of course decided to make matters worse and then the one year old began to cry. Then the middle child has diarrhea…not once, but twice. My hair in my eyes, my face flushed and my under arms sweating, I decided to not care what others were thinking…although I truly was mortified and felt the chaos was a reflection of my obviously bad parenting, and rushed one child to the bathroom after putting the other two in time out and having my friend supervise. I came back after clean up in bathroom one, and talked to the other two kids about gentleness and kindness, packed them up and got ready to head out for the hour and a half drive home.

And then it happened…bless her heart…a mother I had never met came up to me and said, “Wow, you are such a good mom. So many people would have lost it and you really held it together and got your kids back on track. Way to go!” I literally started to cry. The release was so thoroughly cleansing. What we sometimes forget when we look at parents and judge them and their kids is that we all face challenges. My child, we later found out, has gluten and lactose allergies, double vision and 0 (zero) depth perception…think that changes the way he sees the world?

It is human nature to judge others and feel judged, but can you imagine what would happen if we all had a little more compassion, like that mom in Toys 'R Us? I have since tried to give compliments to other moms and dads out in public as often as I can…because I know what it feels like to need that little extra bit of encouragement. I have been surprised by the number of parents who turn around and say thank you because their child has autism or AD/HD or allergies or just lost a person in their life. The point is…we don’t know what is going on in other’s lives…so let’s challenge ourselves to have compassion first.

Challenge of the month: When you find yourself starting to judge others negatively, take a breath, think compassionately and find something kind to say instead.