When I’m An Old Lady

Publix has been really good to me…

…they have these car buggies that are like fun little kid prisons that I can push around.  If I put my kids on one of those backpack leashes I get major disapproval from people who have never had children…but if I strap them all into a jail-on-wheels everyone thinks it’s cute.

…they give all 4 of my kids a free cookie.  Folks, a free cookie in the grocery store is the world’s best bargaining tool.  A potential disaster of a shopping trip has been quickly redeemed by the simple dangling of a free cookie in front of my 2-year-old’s face.

…most of  the employees know my kids’ names.  Honestly, I’m not sure if it’s because they are just really nice, relational people or if it’s because they want to know the names of the kids that point out other customers’ flatulence.

But the numero uno blessing that has come from being a regular
at my beloved grocery store is this:

It is at Publix where I have learned about the kind of old lady that I want to be.
(And the kind that I don’t want to be.)

If you have children and if you have ever been to a grocery store with said children, then you know exactly what I’m talking about when I say that old ladies at the grocery store can either make you feel like a million bucks or they can destroy you.

Oh my momma heart, how I love the sweet old ladies that dote on my kids…the ones that don’t ask where their socks or shoes are but, instead, remind me of what a beautiful blessing my children are…the ones that want to know a few fun facts about each one of my unique and special kids.

I literally feel restored after an interaction like that.

Thirty years from now, I want to be that sweet old lady at the grocery store.  I want to encourage young moms on their motherhood journey and send them along with a pat-on-the-back and a gentle reminder of how precious and fleeting this season is.

I’m writing this really as a reminder to myself because I’m certain that in a few decades I won’t remember exactly what it feels like to be a young mom.  I’ll have forgotten a lot of the details…like how embarrassing a tantrum that is 4-kids-deep in the store can be.  Or that feeling you get as you’re walking into the store and you see your reflection in the sliding doors and you realize at that moment what you actually look like.  Or how much I love to hear from total strangers that my kids are cute and funny and smart.  I live and breathe those feelings now, but one day they will be hazy.

So now, while I am in the throes of mothering littles and am completely aware of what my weaknesses and struggles and needs are, now is the time to determine what my Old-Lady-Hood Resolutions should be.  It makes me so excited to imagine one day being old and full of free time and having the opportunity to be a blessing to young moms the way I desire to be blessed now.

My hope is that decades from now, with a lifetime of memories behind me and the understanding of the ups and downs of motherhood still fresh in my heart, the Lord will give me the grace to be an old lady full of grace and wisdom and compassion.  Especially to young mommas in the grocery store.

“She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.”
Proverbs 31:26 

My Old-Lady-Hood Grocery Store Resolutions:

1. I resolve to offer more encouragement than advice.  (Being asked if I’ve tried ____ for my crying baby isn’t quite as refreshing as being reminded that my crying baby is precious even at her worst.)
2. I resolve to go so far as to ask if I could quickly pray for a young mom.  (I literally mean stop right there, in the store, and pray with her.  I would just melt into a puddle of tears if someone did that for me!)
3. I resolve to gush over how super-cute a young mom’s kids are!  (This never, ever, ever gets old.  Ever.)
4. I resolve to keep an eye out for the young moms who’s kids are having a “moment” and to offer…something…anything.  A kind word.  A treat out of my awesomely-stocked-with-treats old lady purse.  A reminder that there’s light at the end of the tunnel.
5. I resolve to not assume that I have the right to pick up or touch a young momma’s baby whom I have never met.  I can look and admire and baby-talk to…but never touch.
6. I resolve to not push a parenting strategy or method or ideology on any poor young momma.  Ever, ever.  (Having to explain why my kids are homeschooled, or why they know that Santa is a game, or why they still suck their thumb at age 4,or why they aren’t potty-trained yet, or why they aren’t allowed to watch Scooby Doo IS THE WORST.)
7. I resolve to offer Jesus and His living water, not my own know-how or agenda, to thirsty mommas.

I’m looking forward to my old-lady-hood.  And I know that now, while the needs of my own motherhood are fresh on my mind, now is the time for 30-year-old me to start praying for old lady me.

How have you been encouraged by strangers that have crossed your path while at your worst?  What Old-Lady-Hood Resolutions would you add to the list?

Related posts that you might enjoy:

• An Open Letter To Stay-At-Home Moms, From A Husband
• Choosing Peace
• How Are You, Momma?
• To Mommas Who Are Gifted In Areas That I Am Not, Will You Forgive Me?
• Five Motherhood Lies And The Truths To Battle Them

Photo credits:  here

Lauren Souers

Hi, my name is Lauren. I am the wife of one fine man and the momma of four (huge) young children – three boys and one princess! I love all of them. I mostly clean up messes and feed people all day, and it’s really fun to write about it. Jesus is the rock of my family – we love and serve a mighty King! I hope you leave here full of hope that “tired” can be good.