"You're So Lucky"

That's what I heard last week from an older gentleman at the grocery store. Teddy and I were pushing the cart while AJ carried the shopping list. At that moment, we probably looked relatively normal, but perhaps he looked past that facade to see our reality.

Reality is that shopping with Teddy is hard because he doesn't follow directions well and has little to no impulse control. That means that anything in the store is fair game to be grabbed, chewed on or eaten, particularly in a grocery store. And that means that he needs extremely close supervision, such as between my arms with both of us pushing the cart, or in backpack carrier. He's too large for most shopping carts, unless you put him in the entire cart, which then prevents you from putting most things in the cart (see that part about grabbed, chewed or eaten above). The best option for shopping with Teddy is to put him in his chair, but someone needs to push his chair while another person pushes the cart.

Since I didn't have Teddy's chair or the backpack carrier along, my options were pretty limited on that grocery trip. This was actually the second time I can recall that Imanaged an actual grocery run with more than one item with Teddy walking on his own and pushing the cart.

Reality is that AJ ended up in tears once because Teddy rammed him with the cart. Trust me, it's hard to hold the cart still, keep a hand on Teddy to keep him holding on the cart and reach for something way over there that you need. I considered it a success that we only had one bout of tears, nothing got destroyed or messed up and that we got all our groceries.

It's far to easy to think about what's tough in life. That gentleman was absolutely correct. I am so lucky to have two boys of my own, when doctors thought we'd never have children naturally. I'm so lucky to have boys who adore each other and their parents, who come back for extra hugs, snuggles and giggles. I'm so lucky to have such an incredibly compassionate, fairy tolerant, older son who helps with so much without thinking twice and loves his brother something fierce. I'm so lucky to have Teddy who makes me wise beyond my years (oh wait, that's the premature aging from the stress of being his mom). Seriously, though, I'm so lucky to have Teddy who approaches life with such joy and determination and a desire to share that joy with others.

I'm so lucky to be able to spend ordinary moments grocery shopping with my children because of all that implies. I have enough money for groceries. I'm able to spend time with my children. I have the stability of eating meals at home with my family. I can walk through a grocery store on my own accord. I have a vehicle to drive shopping. And the list goes on.

We are abundantly blessed. Sometimes, it takes a stranger to remind us.