Something happened today. Something happened that made me have happy tears. As Mary’s worst morning was coming to a close, another scream of panic came from the back seat as we were driving to school. Not only could she not find her favorite tennis shoes before we left, she had to settle on another pair. A pair that she quickly grabbed as I was closing the front door, hopefully behind us. A pair that she just realized were two left shoes.
This problem tends to happen frequently when you have twins. We were already behind, and I was not turning around. Luckily, Chris was headed to the camp office so he could bring the other mismatched set of shoes.
In the meantime, Mary took the walk of shame into her classroom and her little heart was broken. As I mouthed to her teachers, Mrs. Caitlin Palazzola and Ms. Rachael Brantley how our morning had been, they were quick to say “hey, we will just take one of our shoes off too.”
As Mary’s tears stopped and a smile formed, I then took the mommy walk of shame and delivered Molly to her class, late. When I walked back by Mary’s classroom, I thought I’d give her one last hug before I left. When I opened the door, there was a pile of kids’ shoes in the middle of the floor. Not only the teachers but the children helped Mary turn her rough start to the day around with such a meaningful gesture. My heart was happy.
A bigger lesson was learned today in Mrs. Caitlin’s class. A life lesson. A lesson the whole world needs. Compassion, love, empathy.