This morning we ran to Wal-mart right after we dropped Alden off at school. I like to park towards the back of the parking lot and get myself (and my kids) a bit of exercise on the way in. As we got back to the van, we saw how poorly I had parked - more diagonal-ish than straight-ish. Eli made it all good, though, when he said,
"You're still a good mom, even if you can't park between the lines."
Aw, thanks Eli!
Speaking of being a good mom, I need to record what happened to us at Mardel's a few weeks ago. Mardel's is a Christian store that has an incredible array of teaching supplies, including a laminating machine. I went in there to laminate some letters and numbers and job chart stuff. While I was busy, Alden and Eli were "hiding" from me. One of them decided to crouch between a stack of paper boxes and some large pictures leaning against the edge of the wall. Pretty soon, you guessed it, *CRASH*. The two pictures (that were large -very, very large) got knocked forward, which took out a third picture standing on an easel in front of them.
I was speechless. I didn't move for a few seconds, but the store people did. The manager came over and was really, really nice, reassuring me that "the important thing is nobody got hurt." They lifted up the first picture. The glass was intact but the frame was dented in a few places. I'll be honest - I started to tear up when I saw the price (times three in my head!). The second picture was similarly scathed - dents in the frame. The third picture (the one on the easel) was shattered. They started sweeping up the glass as I tried to control myself and not think about how on earth we were going to pay for it. But when I offered to pay for it, the manager assured me that "of course" that wouldn't be necessary.
Man, I cannot say enough about the good people at Mardel's! I now feel like I owe Mardel's (and the sister store next door - my favorite store ever - Hobby Lobby) several hundred dollars in purchases over the next few years! I didn't get angry at the kids. They're not usually rowdy in stores and they weren't being rowdy this time. I think they were affected enough by the loudness of the crashing glass and the fact that their mother got emotional over it all! :-)
5 comments:
Oh so your one of those people I hate when I go to park and they have crossed their parking line!!!! haha just kidding!!!I have never heard of that store by I'm glad they were so nice!!!
Aww you ARE a good mom! I'm glad you didn't get all angry at them. I'm sure they were just as shocked as you were!
Now you need to write me a book so I can be a good mom too :o)
Good for you not to get angry!! I love Mardel AND Hobby Lobby to!
One of my greatest fears is that my kids will break something in a store that we can't possibly afford to buy if it happens. Glad the store was so nice and you didn't have to pay for it!
Now I'm going to have to go buy something at Mardel's to say thank you to them for being so nice to you. And good job not getting angry. Your kids will remember that more than anything else! You're a GREAT mom. Reminds me of when my oldest broke a decorative column at my brother's wedding.. . Grandma was nice enough to pay for that one.
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