Holy chaos!
We decided to take our little man to the mall yesterday for Trick or Treating.
It will be fun, they said.
Make those memories last, they said.
He's so stinking cute, they said.
This was, indeed, all true, but something that irked me is how impatient and rude people are!
SLOW DOWN, society!
By making little Johnny wait his turn in line to see the witch,
Or get candy from the lady dressed as a unicorn,
We're teaching them that everyone has a place and a turn and you don't just get WHAT you want, WHEN you want it.
Oliver was a little timid with some of the characters.
Who wouldn't be intimidated at 3 years old when a big walking talking DORA comes your way?
Seriously her head was HUGE!
But right as we were having a conversation and warming Oliver up to the witch, (he wasn't having it with Dora!)
(And mind you we waited a good 5 minutes in line for our turn)...
A grandma and mom, literally stepped RIGHT IN FRONT of myself and Oliver and started taking pics of their little one.
Oliver looked at me and said, "Mommy, I want to talk to the witch."
Yes, buddy, we just have to wait a moment.
It took every last inch of me to not football tackle that grandma and mom.
Don't worry there is enough candy, characters, and fictional awesomeness to go around for everyone.
Even waiting in line to ride the rides, I have never seen more impatient, unhappy, and arguing parents,
The machine only takes toonies not loonies and GOD FORBID their kid have to wait a second.
Mom was losing her CRAP on dad.
They were in front of us and got the shock of their life when I said it was totally fine for the dad to run to the machine and get a toonie,
And we'd patiently wait our turn as they were in front of us.
Kindness. Respect. Time. It's free.
Having these moments are a gift.
I think as a society we are so busy worrying that we will miss the next big thing, or that we need to cram everything in a day to feel validated, that we miss out on the important things in life.
We went to the mall with no expectations.
If we saw one character or five,
Rode one ride or four,
Got our faces painted, or didn't.
Got candy from one store or ten,
It didn't matter.
We were together as a family.
It's not the what, it's the WHO.
SO SLOW DOWN.
Feel each giggle.
Smile with each encounter.
And always extend gratitude and compassion.
*I never used to be this patient. And trust me, if a technological issue occurs, I still lose my cool. I'm working on that. But here's how I broke the impatient mould of my past. You can order my newly published book HERE!*
