Today started like many days in my house. I hit the snooze button too many times, trying to squeeze out as much pretend sleep as possible. When I did wake up, I hurried to get ready before the kids got up, but to no avail. I believe that my children have an internal mommy tracker that immediately rings in their ears when I turn on the bathroom light, no matter how quiet I try to be. I had to shower downstairs today, because the upstairs bathtub needs to be replaced (of course) and has started leaking. I'm not sure how long this has been going on or how long I'll need to shower in the weird, dark, laminated shower stall in my basement, but I am sure that I'm digressing. The point being (I did have a point), that even when I tiptoe downstairs and very softly turn on the light, my kids still instinctively know that I'm no longer hiding curling under the covers hoping for an unanticipated snow day. In mid-October.
Shortly before all of this unfolded, I remembered that yesterday my littlest was supposed to bring flowers to school for Friends and Flowers Day. I did not feel like a very good parent about this, and resolved to leave the house 15 minutes early so I could stop by the grocery store and pick up some flowers. For those of you who might not know what Friends and Flowers day is, it's like a show and tell day; every week, one kid chooses some fresh flowers to bring to school to brighten the learning environment. They can't be cut flowers, they have to be potted flowers, because I guess potted flowers last longer. Then, the child shares with the class and life goes on like it does at preschools, where they share their germs and try to learn how to respect other children's bubble space.
Naturally, we didn't leave 15 minutes early. We left 5 minutes early, which I still considered a win, because at least we weren't late. I considered it a win until I got to the grocery store and realized that they no longer carried potted plants, they only carried questionable looking cut flowers. This is the part of the story where I start to get really frazzled. We are running late and now he STILL doesn't have his flowers. Ugh! How could you have forgotten about this? Now this poor kid is missing his Friends and Flowers week because you messed up! I got into the car, regained my composure and only mumbled a little bit about how stupid the store was and how of course this would happen to me and now I wasted my whole morning for nothing.
On the way to my kids' school, on Main Street, is a flower shop. I hadn't been planning on going there because a) they don't open until 8 am (in my perfect execution of "Mission: Flowers in a Pot", I would have had the flowers at 7:50) and b) florists are expensive and I didn't want to spend $30 on a potted plant for a 4 year old. However, since I was flustered and a little desperate, I turned into the parking lot and ran inside. The woman at the counter greeted me very sweetly.
"Good morning! What can I help you find?"
Cue my response (I'm sure sounding very sarcastic and annoyed), "I'm looking for flowers for my son. He's having Friends and Flowers Day at school. They have to be potted flowers not cut ones. For some reason."
At this point, I smiled because I know I was being that person, the one who complains about everything even if it's not that big of a deal and I felt a little bad about it.
She proceeded to show me the options and then, the manager, a man who goes to my mom and dad's church, whose children I went to school with, came out and suggested I take the daisies, not the begonias, because he knew that little buddy's preschool has lots of sunlight and daisies like sunlight. The pot overflowed with big, leafy greens and pretty yellow blooms.
I picked them up and walked to the counter.
"How much do I owe you?"
She smiled. "They're yours."
"What?"
"They're yours. On the house."
"Thank you, but I can pay for them."
"Nope," church guy said, "just go ahead."
"Are you sure?"
"Absolutely. It's for Friends and Flowers day, after all."
I don't think I said thank you enough. It was all I could do to not cry in front of these amazing people who just turned my morning from being frustrating and horrible to something hopeful and happy.
It's funny how just a small thing can turn a day, isn't it? I'm so grateful to those two beautiful souls and all those like them, who with a little bit of generosity, make the world a whole lot brighter: like yellow daisies in the sunlight.
Shortly before all of this unfolded, I remembered that yesterday my littlest was supposed to bring flowers to school for Friends and Flowers Day. I did not feel like a very good parent about this, and resolved to leave the house 15 minutes early so I could stop by the grocery store and pick up some flowers. For those of you who might not know what Friends and Flowers day is, it's like a show and tell day; every week, one kid chooses some fresh flowers to bring to school to brighten the learning environment. They can't be cut flowers, they have to be potted flowers, because I guess potted flowers last longer. Then, the child shares with the class and life goes on like it does at preschools, where they share their germs and try to learn how to respect other children's bubble space.
Naturally, we didn't leave 15 minutes early. We left 5 minutes early, which I still considered a win, because at least we weren't late. I considered it a win until I got to the grocery store and realized that they no longer carried potted plants, they only carried questionable looking cut flowers. This is the part of the story where I start to get really frazzled. We are running late and now he STILL doesn't have his flowers. Ugh! How could you have forgotten about this? Now this poor kid is missing his Friends and Flowers week because you messed up! I got into the car, regained my composure and only mumbled a little bit about how stupid the store was and how of course this would happen to me and now I wasted my whole morning for nothing.
On the way to my kids' school, on Main Street, is a flower shop. I hadn't been planning on going there because a) they don't open until 8 am (in my perfect execution of "Mission: Flowers in a Pot", I would have had the flowers at 7:50) and b) florists are expensive and I didn't want to spend $30 on a potted plant for a 4 year old. However, since I was flustered and a little desperate, I turned into the parking lot and ran inside. The woman at the counter greeted me very sweetly.
"Good morning! What can I help you find?"
Cue my response (I'm sure sounding very sarcastic and annoyed), "I'm looking for flowers for my son. He's having Friends and Flowers Day at school. They have to be potted flowers not cut ones. For some reason."
At this point, I smiled because I know I was being that person, the one who complains about everything even if it's not that big of a deal and I felt a little bad about it.
She proceeded to show me the options and then, the manager, a man who goes to my mom and dad's church, whose children I went to school with, came out and suggested I take the daisies, not the begonias, because he knew that little buddy's preschool has lots of sunlight and daisies like sunlight. The pot overflowed with big, leafy greens and pretty yellow blooms.
I picked them up and walked to the counter.
"How much do I owe you?"
She smiled. "They're yours."
"What?"
"They're yours. On the house."
"Thank you, but I can pay for them."
"Nope," church guy said, "just go ahead."
"Are you sure?"
"Absolutely. It's for Friends and Flowers day, after all."
I don't think I said thank you enough. It was all I could do to not cry in front of these amazing people who just turned my morning from being frustrating and horrible to something hopeful and happy.
It's funny how just a small thing can turn a day, isn't it? I'm so grateful to those two beautiful souls and all those like them, who with a little bit of generosity, make the world a whole lot brighter: like yellow daisies in the sunlight.
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