Panera Bread....and a sweet stranger.

"Can you please hold that door for mom?" "thanks, buddy"

There we were walking into one of my favorite "guilty pleasures"....Panera Bread.  You know.......when you walk in the smell of fresh baked yumminess hits your nose...and then you MUST decide quickly which "pick two" it will be today. For me...it is always the chicken casear sandwich and a soup. My personal fav...chicken tortilla. (sooooo good) But that wasn't on the menu today so I struggled through french onion soup.(insert evil laugh...)But...I digress.... the smell of cinnamon crunch bagels from Panera can do that to you.

The "out to lunch" option with kids. Every parent has the debate over whether they can handle a lunch out with their kids. Will they behave? Can I manage it? Are we talking "time out" or "what the hell is wrong with that kid"? Sometimes it depends on how bad you, as a parent, want Panera or whatever lunch "weakness" you have. Today...I took the plunge, and let Dirty Dog D open the door for the huge double stroller as we entered...all six of us. =) If my insane hunger wasn't the driving force behind the time that we arrived, I would have waited an additional 30 minutes as the place was crowded.

As per the norm, within 15 minutes I had approached by at least 5 different strangers. "Are they all yours?" "You sure do have your hands full?" Some smiles, mostly just stares. I feel so many people watching me. Are they hoping that one of my kids freaks out and they can give me a "that's why she shouldn't have so many kids" look? Are they impressed that I look pretty normal and my children appear happy? I guess I will never know. I can't read minds. I won't alter the way I live my life because of what someone may/may not think. So I continue giving out jobs to the kiddos, "Sweet Pea, please take the Fashionista, and Dirty Dog D to the bathroom. You guys..no games. Bathroom, wash hands and come right back, ok?!" I hand mini-me my iphone so she can find the Fisher Price App and show Miss Missy all the various animals and their animal sounds. (that should bide me about five minutes). I pull together a few small tables that are available. Back to the counter, to grab the four orders of kid mac n cheese (ridiculously good). I have to insert a photo of this mac n cheese because if you haven't had it...you need to. It took all my will power not to scarf down some of the little shells off the top of those bowls.

Back to the munchkins......the Fashionista, upon her return, gets everyone napkins. DDD grabs the baby her bottle of milk from the diaper bag, Sweet Pea fills up two glasses of ice tea, while Mini-Me dishes out the chocolate milk.  More glances.....Sweet Pea offers to say grace and we start our lunch. So far, so good......everyone is "all about" the Panera mac n cheese. Then I hear it....."excuse me???"....I look up to an older woman sitting with her younger daughter and granddaughter. "Are they all yours?" I'm not sure how to make out the question. It doesn't sound negative. "Yes..." I say. "Well, you sure do have your hands full!!". I smile. What I want to say is..."that's original!" I've been burned too many times by that comment. My kids have often asked why people ask me that. They know it's not a positive comment.

As I walk by their table to put my double stroller out of the way, I hear, "Do you mind if I ask what the age range of the children are?" Another question....."sure, the oldest is 8 and the youngest is 14 months". "Wow...do you homeschool them all?" "yep....and they LOVE going out to lunch. They know that it is because they can BEHAVE in Panera that we can be in here". The woman simply smiles. I'm not sure what has happened. I'm not sure how to read her face so I go on eating my lunch and caring for the kiddos.

As I begin to clean up the kid's bowls and place everything on their trays, the lady and her young granddaughter are at my table. "We would love to be able to help you with your food. Can we take these trays for you?" I am speechless. I manage to utter a "sure....thank you. Children, what do you say?" As the children thank the woman for her kindness, I am in awe of the generosity of this stranger. Lord, thank you for this "loveletter" today. Thank you for showing me that some people's comment "You sure do have your hand's full"...may just be an observation that a mom with five children could use an extra pair of hands or two. Thank you for the reminder to always seek the best in people.
What about you??? Any stories of stranger generosity that you want to share?? I would love to hear them!!!!