On Shopping with the Kids

 
So today I did the shopping by my-lonesome-self with the three kids while the wife took care of another matter.

I had my Little Princess strapped to me on a Byorne-thinggamaggigy, while the two boys played in the two-seater shopping cart.  My hands were literally full.

I don't know about you parents with more than three kids, but I wonder: Do you get the same smiles that I get?  I'm sure you get comments.

Anyways, as I walked around the grocery store, people just stared at me....and smiled.

I smiled back.

The smiling wanted to make me smile even though people weren't looking at me. 

I wondered to myself, "What are they thinking?  Maybe they think I have a handful....nah.   Maybe they're thinking what my friend who has five kids once told me when he gets comments like 'Are they all yours'?....possibly.  Or maybe they're wondering how I'm gonna manage grabbing the onions with the Tilapia fish while holding on to my precious little one...perhaps."

When I had one kid, I really didn't get the looks.  When I had two kids, the comments tended to be "So are you going to have more?"  Now with three I tend to get "So this is it for you, right?"  And so on and so forth.  I think they mean well, but statements really reflect -- how can I say this gently and kindly -- a distorted contraceptive mentality which has pervaded the culture.

But that mentality I think I'll save for another day, another time.  Right message; wrong time....as the saying goes.  I believe the term has been used in theological circles to describe an environment in the current Culture of Death and Dictatorship of Relativism which is now on the rise.

I'll think I'll stick to the smiles for now.  Yes, I'll assume good intent.

Smiles on Aisle 7 please.