Nice-ing

I was at Costco today with Max, and when we walked into the cold, refridgerated area, I said, "Max, look at my breath," and I breathed out so he could see how my breath was visible in the cold. Then he tried it, which was of course adorable. As I rounded a corner, a lady came up to me and said, "You're a great mom! You should know that. How you're always teaching him something, that's great!"

She was so darling about it, I couldn't stop grinning and bouncing as I walked all through the rest of the store. It reminded me of Shana, a friend I met while doing a study abroad years ago. We'd be walking down the street chatting, and suddenly she'd say, "Hold on a minute, Shannon," rush back to a woman we had just passed to tell her she had lovely hair. Or she'd run across the street to tell the garbage man what a wonderful job he was doing and thank him for keeping the streets looking so nice. I asked her about it, and she said, "I decided years ago, anytime I have a positive thought about someone to share it, even if it's a stranger." What a wonderful philosophy! I've tried to live by that ever since, though I'm not as daring as Shana was. That mother in Costco made me feel so great. Why not accost others with compliments? I'm renewing my committment to stranger nice-ing.

By the way, you all must be sending positive goodness my way, because the last couple of days Max has been so happy!

(okay, and yes, i'm still thinking about the Newbery Honor, but I don't want to bore you and talk about it all the time. But...I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! AAAH!)