In it together. we are all winging it…

So on the much anticipated (feared/dreaded… however you see it really) supermarket trip this week I made a boo-boo.  Essentially I turned up to to collect a trolley without a £1 coin.  Error.  Silly Mummy. There I was with a 17 month lump on my hip, a rucksack containing the entire world (aside from a £1 coin), a list the length of my arm (post half term – empty cupboards) and no idea what to do next (It was Monday, we had just done the first school run after half term, I had been up since 5.45am. You know how it is…)    Could have sworn I had one, but then I am hopeless with this kind of stuff.  I don’t check obviously.  

Adventures in supermarket shopping. My least favourite.

The guy at the till was, well, less than helpful and I could not bear the thought of getting back in the bloody car and starting the process all over again (you know how difficult the in and out of the car fiasco is right?)

BUT just as I was stood at the till not sure what to do next, the most wonderful of ladies, a Mum with two little ones and a full trolley said “Give me a minute to get this stuff in the car and you can have this – I know what it’s like and hopefully this just helps your day a bit”.  What. A. Legend.

It was the smallest of things really – a trolley with a £1 coin in it.  But you parents out there will totally get this. Sometimes, it is the smallest of things, the little bit of help, the little word of support, look of understanding, £1 for the trolley, that literally makes all the difference.

It reminds us that we are not alone.

Sometimes it can feel like we are.  This parenting gig is hard.  Wonderful and amazing.  But hard.  Especially when you are juggling so much – work, school runs, clubs, homework, house, shopping, family time, exercise, etc etc…

I work at home too so I am often just me, or just me and the little one.  And whilst I feel incredibly lucky in so many ways, it can be lonely and isolating.  It is easy to be all consumed by motherhood and work – and feel totally alone in it.

Sooooo a little gesture from a fellow Mum honestly really brightened my Monday.

Just reminded me that we are all in this together.  We all have lows, times that are tough, moments we feel we are losing our minds, times when we don’t have a coin for a trolley and we feel total despair.  Much of the time it is wonderful – we have lovely adventures, we like getting outside, we have a lot of fun.  But there is also the other stuff that also goes on and makes up a lot of the week… the grind I guess.  The stuff that makes the nice stuff possible, but is ever so slightly tough at times.  And we are all in that.  We are all experiencing this stuff.  We are all in it together.  And it feels nice to know that.  Let’s tell each other, let’s share – it is good to not feel alone. 

We should look out for each other – for Mums and Dads giving it their all and finding it a bit tough sometimes.  A big shout out to you all.  You are doing the most brilliant of jobs.

And most importantly to the wonderful Mum who gave me her trolley and therefore a Monday morning I could cope with – Thank you xx