Mom's Grocery Store Photo Reminds Us The Everyday Moments Matter
Documenting everyday moments gives us something to cherish later on
Motherhood is a constant struggle between wanting to cherish every sweet moment with our kids and desperately wishing to forget the stressful, anxiety-inducing moments. There is no in between. Even the most mundane tasks can thrust us into a full-on sweat as we panic our way through it. Like grocery shopping, for instance. Grocery shopping with small children can sometimes feel like the mom version of climbing Everest.
Mom Jess Wolfe shared her recent experience in an Aldi’s with all four of her kids in tow.
“Sweaty, baby strapped to my back, three year old insisting that her belly hurts and NEEDS her donut that she forgot to eat after lunch, 6 year old using everything in sight as a weapon, 7 year old wanting to spend the only dollar he has. This. This was my trip to the grocery today,” Wolfe writes.
Right off the bat, Wolfe deserves a fist-bump for tackling an Aldi’s trip with four children aged seven and under. That is a herculean task in itself.
“While I was bagging up my groceries (thanks Aldi) and trying to quietly keep from losing my ever loving sh*t, the lady next to me asked if I have one of those phones that takes pictures,” Wolfe continues.
“Trying not to convey my annoyance to someone else adding to the million questions that make up my day, I replied that, yes I do have one of those fancy phones.”
Who among us hasn’t lost their patience with a well-meaning stranger when out in public with our kids? Most of the time, ain’t nobody got time for that. But this particular stranger was a fellow mom, and the encounter she had with Wolfe is a valuable moment for us all.
“She asked to take a picture of me with the kids. At the grocery. Together. She told me that she wishes she had photos of herself doing every day things with her kids.”
These seemingly “everyday” moments are often unnoticed and therefore undocumented. Years from now, Wolfe and her kids can look at this photo and appreciate the stress, patience, sweat, and love their mom put into their regular, everyday moments.
Look, there’s nothing wrong with wanting to get a chaotic trip to the grocery store over with before someone has a meltdown. And it’s unrealistic to attempt to cherish every single moment with our kids in the middle of Aldi’s with all our kids in tow. But there is sweetness to savor even in the midst of the stress.
“She validated the fact that a simple grocery trip is hard. She told me that what I do matters. She doesn’t miss what made the days hard, but she misses what made them sweet. I will always cherish this picture and the message that came with it.”
