A Woman/Mom Who Looks Like She Knows What She Is Doing

Apparently I look quite confident with Jackson and James loaded in the double stroller! I have had four encounters in the last two days of people randomly coming up to me and asking for advice/sharing information!

The first encounter happened when we were walking through the Springfield Plaza shopping area (BuyBuyBaby, Trader Joe's, Hallmark, CVS, Starbucks, Giant, and Chipotle--load up the troops once and we are kept busy for a while!) and a man stopped me as we were walking by Giant. He was sitting on a bench with an adorable little girl, who was 10 months old. How do I know this? He told me when he asked me the following question, "Excuse me. Can I ask you a question? She's 10 months old right now. When do you think she'll start walking?" Ummm... I joke with some friends about giving Dr. Dana's opinion, but I'm not serious! I smiled and said it would be normal for her to start anytime between now and a few months after her first birthday. I added that both Jackson and James waited until after they turned one. He seemed pleased with that answer, we smiled and wished each other good days. I was flattered that he stopped me to ask, but why me?

The second encounter happened this morning at Walmart. I was not very organized as I perused the baby section and kept crossing paths with another mom and her toddler. As we were both moving on, she stopped and said, "Excuse me, can I ask your opinion?" I smiled and told her to go ahead. She was buying swim diapers for her son and was wondering if the Huggies Little Swimmers were good ones. I told her we used those last summer and this summer I was using Pampers Splashers simply because you earn points with Pampers! I told her they were very comparable, however. She thanked me and we commiserated over making the mistake of putting our sons in the pool in a regular diaper thinking there couldn't be THAT big of a difference between regular diapers and swim diapers (BIG mistake!). She was perfectly nice, but again I wonder, why me?

The third encounter happened at Target right after Walmart. I was wearing my t-shirt from the Susan G. Komen 3-Day Walk and one of the employees stopped me and asked if I had walked. I told her I did, with my mom, and it was amazing! She said she has been hoping to get a team together. She also shared some of her experiences about doing the Relay for Life and helping out with other events Target sponsors. She told us about a cool sounding neighborhood safety event they are hosting in the Target parking lot at the beginning of August (unfortunately, we will be out of town). This one isn't so random, I just haven't been stopped because of my shirt in a long time! She did give the boys stickers because they were wearing their seat belts in the cart, and I had a chance to complain about the carts that Target has for kids to "ride" on. She totally agreed! Maybe I'll write a letter about that one...

The fourth encounter happened this afternoon as poor Jackson and James were given no choice but to accompany Pax and me on a walk! It actually wasn't AS bad as I thought it'd be, but we were all ready for some air conditioning by the time we got back home! Just as we were starting, two women approached us and asked where the trail went. I told her that they would only reach the neighborhood in the direction they were going. That ended up being fine because they were looking for the main road in our subdivision. Little did they know they picked the worst person to ask for directions! LOL Thankfully I walk that trail at least once a day, so that probably worked out ok for them :) I do realize this last conversation makes total sense because why wouldn't you ask someone else walking where the trail goes? Since it followed my other encounters, however, it just seemed odd too!

I have to admit I have given a lot more unsolicited advice since I became a mom! I find myself offering my two cents in the baby arena. To be honest, you really don't know how experienced the employees at BuyBuyBaby or Babies R Us with the different products. There are so many choices now, it's a little overwhelming! I specifically remember helping a new grandma at BuyBuyBaby as she and her son-in-law were sent to buy more nursing tools for her daughter and her days old grandson! She was obviously confused about everything, so I jumped in and shared with her what I had learned. I had been browsing the bibs and she was kind of talking to herself and her son-in-law behind me, so it's not like I was horribly butting in! I think she appreciated it :) I have never been asked for advice as often as the last couple of days!