It's the little things....

It is the little things that make me feel like I'm doing an ok job at this Mom gig. 
A big thing happened the other night too.  Poor DS just had a meltdown. I think quite a few things just built up and he let it all out at once.  He so very rarely cries and he cried on me.  We talked and talked it out.  I got FG involved.  DS said a pretty serious thing that made my heart break into a million pieces. It wasn't about me or FG or anyone else but it showed the depth of how upset he was.  At one point during our talk FG said, "Buddy, you are only in 3rd grade.  It can't be that bad."  I reminded FG that while we tend to think of DS as a mini-adult, he isn't.  This is what he's living.  He doesn't know anything past 3rd grade and being 9 so yeah, this is as bad as it gets to him.  FG wasn't trying to blow it off at all, he was struggling just like me with the right things to say to comfort DS.  All seems to be ok now.  I let him know that we are behind him, here to talk to and protect him always.  I'm going to have him go in and talk to the school counselor because he seems to like that.  I sense therapy in his adult life, he really feels better after that. 

Anyway, the little things yesterday were....
I picked the kids up from school. I rarely do that unless I'm already at school.  I don't often leave the house to go sit in the parking lot because it's so small I have to get there early to get any sort of decent parking spot.  (Hello run on sentence).  The bus lets the kids off on the side of the house and they don't ride it long.  I just don't see a big point in going to get them every day.  But they like it, it was nasty weather yesterday and I wanted to see them. I've started working on Tuesday nights as well as Wednesday nights so I knew I wouldn't really get to see them much.  It took some of my "me" time away but it was worth it.

Earlier in the day I had picked up some library books for all of us.  DD knew one was coming - she had been waiting for it since we reserved it.  Instead of just putting them on their beds to find I decided a scavenger hunt would be fun.  So I made up 7 clues and hid them in various places.  Not too long ago, DS made a mailbox and we hung it outside of his bedroom.  We pass little notes back & forth in it (he raises the red flag when he has "outgoing mail" for me or FG to read).  I put the instructions and the first clue in there.  They had a blast!  They only spent about 10 minutes or so reading, solving and hunting down the clues.  They finally found their library books hidden in the dryer with a "Good Job!" note. 
They both thanked me about 20 times for that silly little scavenger hunt.  It was the last thing they both said when they went to bed too.  After I left for work, DS made up one for FG and DD to follow.  So it continued on well into the evening.

Then I made the night of a child shopping in the toystore last night.  Just another little thing but he spent his allowance money on something small while his sister made up her birthday registry.  They were in the store for quite awhile.  All of a sudden he came up to me at the counter and exclaimed, "I lost my tooth!" and proudly held up his tooth and showed me the hole.  Now when someone comes in with a cast on, they get a desginated present.  So I felt we just HAD to do something for this little boy.  We have these little tooth fairy boxes and I asked him if the tooth fairy comes to his house. He said yes. I asked him if he has a little box and he said no.  So I led him over to the display and told him to pick one out.  With big round eyes, he said, "Do I have to pay?"  I told him nope, I was going to give it to him.  He was thrilled.  His father had stepped out of the store to make a phone call and I told him to make sure he told his dad I let him take it for losing his tooth in the store.  I later overheard him tell his dad, "She's a really nice lady, isn't she dad?"

Now I'm about to go do another small thing for a store customer.  She called for the second day in a row asking about instructions for a kit that were not in the box.  Her daughter wants to make the kit for a school project.  I just happen to have the same kit at home.  When she left her name, phone and email asking that the store owners Please call her soon, I told her I would just email the instructions to her today.  She was SO thankful.  So I'm going to scan the 3 pages of instructions and email them to her.  It will probably take me 10 minutes.

All of these little things have made me feel pretty good and hopefully made others feel good. I know my kids were happy with me, I know the little boy will probably remember losing that tooth over some of the other ones and hopefully this mom will help her daughter who will in turn get a good grade on her project. 

Will you do something little to make someone's day today?

Allow me to remind you that you are not the only person in the world

Warning: This could get a tad bit snippy!  But If I don't get it out here, I will get it out where it isn't appropriate.

This holiday season is an interesting one for me.  I have never worked in retail before.  Now I am in the throws of it - working in retail at a toystore before Christmas.  YIKES!  This past week was a killer. I haven't been around anywhere online - not on here, not on Facebook, nowhere! 
Our little toystore had a big sale this past weekend and I worked both Saturday and Sunday.  Our prices are slightly higher than the Wal Mart we share a shopping center with but as my boss says, "Wal Mart won't wrap for you."  And they don't help you the way we do either.  So this past weekend I felt like I wrapped 1,000 presents.  The amount of sales we did, I damn near could have wrapped that many!  It has to be the biggest weekend of the store's year in sales.  I'm just a very part-time employee but my bosses don't make it a secret of what the sales are. 

So here is my little PSA and reminders to all of you out shopping this holiday season!  For the most part we had very nice customers. 

• BUT, your being unprepared and running late does not constitute and emergency on my part or the part of any other customers. 
• You being ill informed of a sale, does not mean I will stay late so your wife can rush down 5 minutes after closing on the last day of the sale. (I had a guy texting his wife to let her know about our sale AT CLOSING time because he stopped in with his daughter to pick something up.  This was on our last day of the sale.) 
• I'm sorry, but you will have to wait in line like everyone else. No, I won't just sneak you in and "ring you up real quick" or "wrap this up now because the party started 10 minutes ago". 
• Yes, it IS in my job description that I must verify large bills so please don't give me a dirty look as I hold your $100 bill up to the light that you are using to pay for a $3.20 purchase.  I'll do it to the next person as well because I've been told to.
• Sure, we wrap presents for you and we do an awesome job but your presents will have to wait in line like you did because all those people in line wanted wrapping done as well and it takes longer to wrap a GIANT box or 15 presents with different requests than it does to scan a few barcodes and run a credit card.
• You should be HAPPY I'm asking for your I.D.!  Please don't get annoyed that I am making sure they match.  You'd be even more pissed if someone stole it and was using it to spend $600 on toys for THEIR kid.
• Yes, I CAN hear you making those snide comments to the person in line next to you.  I really am going as fast as I can.  If you don't like it, go to Wal Mart where the lines are long, no one will help you select a great toy and they certainly won't wrap it for you.
• Every customer is equal.  Sorry to burst your bubble but I'm not kissing your ass because you spent more.
• Would it kill you to smile? 
• Just because we haven't been able to get over to the sign and click off the "OPEN" sign does not mean it's cool to walk in 20 minutes AFTER we close and browse for awhile. 
• Really? You seriously want to make a Birthday Box when there are 10,000 people in this tiny store?  It's absolute imperative that you fill not one but TWO boxes TODAY when the birthday party isn't for a few weeks? (I know the woman who did this. She does not work so that's not what would restrict her.  Oh, missing 5 minutes of a nap time would kill her though. She's ultra scheduled and ultra "all-about-me-and-my-kids". You know the type that thinks that the seas should part because SHE HAS A CHILD!)
• When a postcard is sent out clearly stating that the sale excludes certain items, please don't argue with me. I will probably get fired over your $5 discount if I give it to you.
• When a coupon states that it cannot be used with any other sale, then don't present it to me on the day that the entire store is on sale.  And don't get snippy with me when I politely tell you I can't accept it with the sale.
• Other people can hear you and the way you speak to your kids.  WHY do you bring them to a toystore and then get mad at them when they ask you for things?!
• Please don't let your kids run wild in the store and destroy displays. 

So I'm asking you all this shopping season, PLEASE be kind to those around you - other customers, the staff working ANYWHERE (Hey, I wouldn't want to be at Wal Mart either!).  When I've done Black Friday shopping, I've always gone into it with the attitude that NO item is so important that I can't be nice to people.  I walk through the stores with a smile on my face.  I've encountered some nasty, crabby people on those shopping trips and I wonder what they think when I respond to their scowl with a smile?  Remember that yes, at least our store does really appreciate your business but we are still people working there and helping you. We have our own families as well. If we are not completely happy and upbeat, maybe remember that we have been hunched over a counter wrapping presents until our fingers ached.  Maybe the customer before you was particularly nasty to us and we have feelings too.  Maybe we haven't had time to pee or even get a drink of water in the past 5 hours.  Even though we use a cash register, it is still mentally draining to continually type, check, confirm, speak, repeat, repeat repeat for hours at a time all while hearing the comments, seeing the looks....  As I told FG when I got home on Sunday night well well past closing time, it is just mentally and physically draining to be that "ON".  We're climbing ladders, getting down heavy boxes, carrying akward items, wrapping, wrapping, wrapping.

Ok enough complaining. I'm back at it again today then I'm cooking Thanksgiving tomorrow.  The store is having another sale on Friday and I'm working that as well as Saturday day to cover for someone who wanted the day off.  I am just hoping I survive this holiday season!