I hope I’ll smile at children in the supermarket aisle,
Not look at them as if I’d never seen something so vile.
I hope if kids are romping at the doctor’s surgery,
I’ll keep in mind that one of them feels poorly, just like me.
If a child careers towards me on a newly-mastered scooter
I hope I’ll simply step aside and think, ‘What could be cuter?’
I hope if families come to church to join in Easter Day,
I’ll realise that my tuts and glares might make them stay away.
I hope if I have come into the library for a book,
I’ll be glad that kids are in there too, won’t crush them with a look.
I hope I’ll look beyond the noise, the scooters and the rest,
To see their mother standing there, trying to do her best.
I hope I will remember when I’m getting on in years
That my reaction to her children can bring a mum to tears.
I hope I will remember when my own children were young
That all I wanted was someone to say to me, “Well done.”
Nominations for the BritMums Brilliance in Blogging awards are now open! If you liked this, you could pop me in for the Laugh (although admittedly, this isn’t a funny post – they usually are, honest!), Fresh Voice or Writer category – just click on one of the badges below.
lign="center">
Beautiful & so to the point.
(My local library should make a copy of it & hand it to grumpy faces) 🙂
Ah, thank you! Libraries should be encouraging kids to love reading, but mine get told off every time we go 🙁
This is lovely!
Harry was recently told to be quiet. On a bus. He’s 3 years old and was simply asking me questions! Grrr….
Oh so true! Before I had kids I used to find noisy ones annoying, but now I am very understanding (especially when they have stressed-out parents in tow) and aim to be so for the rest of my life!
This is great. I wish more people had patience for mothers with kids in supermarkets
beautiful Jess :)) x
Lovely. x
I hope that the ladies of our church stumble across your blog xx
2boys1mum said you had an interesting post on this subject. She wasn’t wrong. Lovely way to say it. Hope I always remember.
This is lovely…. I had a horrible experience with a lady in the supermarket once who told me to get my child under control but then at the check outs another kind woman said to me, ‘well done Mum.’ Mums need all the support they can get, not stripped down in judgement. X
Oh goodness me yes, I long for those smiles now and I’m determined that I will smile too when it’s my turn.
Oh fantastic! I’m going to print this out and put it up everywhere I go!! And yes, resolve to do the same myself. It does seem like some people forget too easily what it was like, how much effort it took to just leave the house, to stay patient in the face of tantrums. It did actually happen to me once. My 3yo had a massive, lying on thefloor kind of tantrum just outside a shop in a busy shopping centre. I dealt with it, in Dutch (my first language) because at least that meant people couldn’t eavesdrop on my parenting, and when we had had a hug and it was over a woman came up to me to say: “I just wanted to say you are a great mum. If more mums were like you, it would be a different world.” That just made my day. And to top it off, it turned out she was Dutch, so she had not just seen but understood the whole thing!! So I will do my best to do the same for other mums because it makes a massive difference.
This is absolutely perfect! Nothing can make you feel worse than a grumpy look, especially aimed at your child, when they’re just being a kid and you’re doing your best. #Prose4T
I’m assuming you’ve been spending too much time our Waitrose, my dear. It really is the most unforgiving place in the world, filled with cold empty souls that have forgotten that they too were children once… Great post.xxxx
Absolutely love this. Love poetry. This is great and so true. Good reminders too! Thank you so much for sharing it on Share With Me!!!
I have to admit that this had me in tears. I have been feeling really nostalgic today and this is so beautiful – and words that need to be remembered by everyone. Thank you for linking to Prose for Thought x
I love this. Really hit home with me. Nancy days Hello to everyone and hardly anyone smiles back. X
Hi there very nice website!! Guy .. Beautiful .. Amazing ..
I’ll bookmark your blog and take the feeds
additionally? I’m satisfied to seek out
a lot of helpful information right here within
the post, we want work out more strategies in this regard, thanks for sharing.
. . . . .
Feel free to surf to my web page hotel A taormina
I.LOVE.THIS. I feel like sharing it everywhere. So well written. Have just found your blog via Life at the Little Wood and think I will be spending my Friday evening catching up on your posts!