Day 2: 31 Days of Being Present

First of all, I am so super excited about October. It’s my favorite month for so many reason. I get to relish Fall {when it starts that is, we are still dealing with 100 degrees record breaking temps in No Ca}. I am also so excited to share my daily thoughts on being present. It’s more personal then a lot of the other things I talk about. If you know me, I am not a shy person. I share. A lot. I like to talk hence my name maybe? It is Gabby after all In my conversations I gain so much. I also feel like I am able to help give other people, especially moms a perspective that can sometimes be very validating. I love those moments. Where we all kinda help each other feel so normal when so often we feel alone in how we cope with the daily ‘crud’.

My post today is centered around that. Being present for others. So often we scoot about and just try and get stuff done. Do we take time to engage with others? I try. I really do. The other day I was at HomeGoods with my littlest guy, Mason. I started chatting with the cashier about kids and the world of boys. When we left Mason said, “Mommy, you and that lady are friends now”. I love that by my conversation with someone I had never met before, my child sensed that my conversation with her being as friendly as it was meant that we were friends. I hope that will inspire him to be kind and engage people. It really can make someones day and honestly, I love that I feel a connection in such a short amount of time. You never know what you might get from it. Parenting tidbits, a funny story or just the realization that sometimes we are all so much the same.

Fast forward to today. After I had done my 4 mile walk {yes, I was present except for when my brother called and then I walked slower cause I was chatting with him. I tried, I tried}. I was driving in my car and I started thinking about how my 9 year old wanted to decorate the front of the house all spooky for Halloween. I spent two days doing the inside but it’s not quite as scary as he’d like. I got so weepy when I thought about how many more Halloweens he’d get excited for this type of thing. Maybe always, maybe not. So yes, I got totally weepy thinking about how fast they are growing up. I may have been listening to Mumford and Sons which also makes me weepy. Don’t ask. It just does. Maybe it’s the banjo. Maybe it’s his voice.

Guess where I ended up? HomeGoods. I know, there seems to be a pattern. I think they must hire some super amazing people there cause it happened again. Well, not the same silly conversation about the difference between boys and girls and not the same lady. I walked up to do my return and the woman at the counter said, “Can you believe that it’s already October?”, I replied, “No, I love this time of year but it really goes so fast and then I feel sad.” I told her about my moment in the car. You know what happened then? She got weepy!! Yes, seriously. We both joked that we had to shake it off or we would be balling in the front of HomeGoods. Turns out she has 2 sons and 8 grandchildren. She told me she had to request time off for her grandson’s JV Football game. This whole conversation happened in a matter of minutes but it was this meaningful moment where I connected with a complete stranger. Seriously.

So can you be present? Can you spark a conversation that will change somedays day? I dare ya