An Ah Ha Moment

Yesterday at the grocery store, I witnessed a moment between a mother and son. The mom, in her sweatpants, her hair tied up on her head. She'd obviously just spent the day running around, being a mom. The boy, about 4 or 5 years old. Wiggling around, touching everything he could, talking non-stop about the wonders of the grocery store. And then, it happened.

The boy looked up at his mom and said so matter-of-factly, "You look so beautiful right now."

It warmed my heart. The sweetness of it all. He was right. She was beautiful.
And then came her response.

"No I don't", she said with an embarrassed laugh.

And that was that. The boy went on zooming his little shopping cart around, wondering aloud what was upstairs and why they needed to buy so many bags of groceries. The mom mumbled something to me about how her son saw a lady wearing silver boots and he must have been talking about them being beautiful. And I wondered why she was so uncomfortable and felt the need to apologize for her son's compliment. No, she hadn't put much effort into her grocery store "look". But she WAS still very beautiful. She was pretty on the outside and had a sweet smile. Her eyes were blue and full of light. I could tell from her eyes that she was beautiful on the inside too.

And then they were gone. But the moment stayed with me.

The great thing about kids is that they say exactly what they think. They have no filter. They tell it like they see it. And they tell the truth.

The thing about women, is that we are so very hard on ourselves. Her response to her son's compliment wasn't uncommon. I know I've responded the very same way in the past when others have complimented me.

What made me sad was that with three little words she had told her son that he was wrong and that she wasn't beautiful. And I wondered if he'd ever say it again.

I hope he will continue to tell his mother that she's beautiful. I hope he will tell his future wife the same. I hope that they will respond with a "Thank you".