A Note of Thanks

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ThanksWhen I sat down to write this post, my intention was to approach my “thank you” with a little more sarcasm. You know, thank you to the lovely woman who recommended that I try another form of birth control, or to all those people who walked by as I struggled to pick up 12 ounces of elbow macaroni that my darling 2 year old dumped all over the grocery floor. But, after a bi of contemplation, I realized the world is already too full of negatively. And I truly do owe many wonderful people heartfelt thanks. I hope that they know without my saying so just how truly grateful I am. How their small, perhaps unintentional gestures touched our lives in a big way. But, just in case I wasn’t clear…

Thank you to the gentleman at the grocery store who gave my daughter $2 for returning $20 you accidentally left behind. It was your money, after all, and you had every right to take it and walk away. But you didn’t. Thank you for showing my little girl that sometimes good deeds are rewarded.

Thank you to the woman who, instead of staring and shaking her head like so many others at the museum that day, tried to comfort our exhausted, over-stimulated, sobbing 2 year old. I am sure it was not easy to listen to her scream, and probably frustrating when your attempt was unsuccessful. Thank you for your efforts, and for being a model of patience and empathy for her brother and sisters.

Thank you to the couple dining next to us who complimented my husband and I on our beautiful, well behaved children. Thank you for putting up with their “inside” voices, questionable table manners, and bickering over who was the rightful owner of each and every crayon. Thank you for showing us that often we see the worst in ourselves and our offspring. Thank you for reminding me not to be so hard on them, or on myself.

Thank you to the man at the store who moved aside to let us ahead of him in the checkout line, even though we had at least five items for every one of his. And thank you for assuring me that this was okay, that all you had waiting at home was a messy floor and a broom. You said the crumbs could wait, that I should not have to. Thank you for being a model of kindness and, yes, of mercy too.

Thank you to the woman who surely had better things to do with her lunch hour than listen to my son go on and on about every detail of the shirt he had made. Although I am pretty positive you could not see the crane and the digger and the dump truck he drew, thank you for assuring him that you could. Thank you for valuing him as a person, for not simply walking away. You truly made his day.

Thank you to everyone who encounters my exuberant children daily and offers them a smile, a friendly greeting, or a high five. Thank you for seeing them for what they are – four happy kids, full of energy and bursting with life. Thank you for showing them the power of the little things, and the huge difference they can make.

And, above all else, thank you all for showing my children that, despite the overabundance of hurt and hate they surely will encounter in their lifetime, there is still a whole lot of good left in this world.

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Emily Ringo
I am a Cincinnati girl, born and raised. After a brief hiatus to attend the University of South Carolina (go Cocks!), my husband and I moved back home with a 1 year old in tow (she's now 10!). Since then, we have added three more kiddos to our family (ages 6, 4 and 2), and I am lucky enough to hang out with them all day. We love reading, getting crafty, and making huge messes that we will definitely clean up...tomorrow. When I'm not surrounded by children, I dabble in exercise, enjoy reading a good book, and can frequently be found binging on Netflix with my favorite guy. About a year ago, a Pinterest “I can do that!” project painting little superheroes for my son turned into an Etsy shop (etsy.com/shop/woolyllama) which I manage to run in my “free time”. I may be slightly sleep deprived, but I wouldn't trade a minute of my crazy, busy, wonderful life!

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