Stressing or Blessing?

     I was walking into a store this week with 5 of my children and a woman was walking out with 3 of hers and as I held the door open for her she said God bless you, going in there with all those children~ I am ready to hang mine ~
I wanted to answer I am blessed that is why I have all these children to go in there with...
But I was a bit stunned and she was on the move.
      I have prayed for her and those children daily. Sometimes when we are in a crunch.. trying to g...et out the door last minute or push one more hour on the road... situations that are not normal and are asking a bit more of my children than they may be able to do reasonably.. I will remind them to be a blessing not a stressing. Because what happens in these already stressful times can change the dynamic from us being a team getting through it to us all turning our stress on each other.. or the youngest, slowest, most affected etc.
      When parents are always in a continual state of stress over their children in breaks my heart. We are hurting and we hurt our children. We don't know how so we blame our children. We don't have support so we expect our children to be our support.. etc etc etc. I love my children. And when they stress me.. I always find it is me.. I didn't train them. I didn't manage them well in that situation. I didn't take on my responsibility in that situation.
      My children were immediately like we are glad we are going in the store with you. And I thought those poor children most likely wished they were anywhere else but leaving that store with a mother who would publicly declare she wanted to hang them.
      Giving our children blessings with our mouths, encouragement, approval, love is our job. Publicly it may be even more important that they know when we speak of them specifically to strangers that we are supporting their lives, their beings, their souls and their hearts. I have often thought when people comment negatively on the size of my family that my children have ears. They hear those comments. They hear my answers.
      So, I don't know this woman.. maybe she was having a bad day. I don't know those children.. maybe they were having a bad day. I do know that shopping can be one of the hardest things to do with children. I do know that this mother was trying. So I will pray. Maybe I will cross paths with her again some day. If not at least I can support her and her family in prayer.