I just wanted to share a peice of important advice with you, something thatcan really be of impacton mums and their days, and the way they feel...

I was at my local shopping centre recently and seen this poor mum with her little boy chucking a one of those

big embaressing tantrums that attracts theattention of every one around in a 1kilomentre radius.

This poor mum had tried everything to get the little boy to calm down - from stern warnings to bribery and threatening to walk off and leave him there, and actually walkng off and leaving him there (well,she was actually only a few metres away hiding like a CIA spy behind a shelf in close eye range, but the boy ofcourse wasnt to know that!!) - and NONE of it worked.

She tried to pick him up and he ofcourse did the twist and jiggle fight and only ended back up on the floor refusing to move.... Poor mum was by now red in the face, and the tears welling upin her eyes were obvious, though she tried to hide her emotion.

So I took a chance, I went up and re-assured her that practically all mums have been in this same situation and that she shouldnt feel bad or judged upon as all mums would hae sympathy for her plight. We made some small talk, and i relayed a story about my own child doing the same tantrum in the most inconvenient of places and times, and how he grew out of it. I tried to lift her spirits. I tried to tell her she was not alone, no matter how alone she felt.

Anyway our chat went for what seemed like 7 minutes and by then the boy had calmed down and was back on his feet, back to normal and ready to leave....after all, he had been ignored by both of us for the whole 7 minute conversation,  maybe it seemed like an eternity  to him.

Just as we said our polite goodbyes she turnt and stopped me and said "thankyou, you have really made my day. You know,im a young mum with a young toddler and today i was having a bad day, especially with my  sons tantrum, i felt everyone was judging m,proably thnking what a bad parent i was, or how uncontrollable my child is, i assure you he doesnt normally make a habit of dong these things, but i felt so embaressed, so judged by peoples stares.... Your kind words made my day, and lifted me back up, so thankyou"...... and with those parting words, she smiled and walked on....

Little did she know, she had made my day now.

The kindness of strangers and a few encouraging words can go a long way....

Please, PLEASE if you see a mum who looks like she could use some kind words, PLEASE give them to her, as your words and time are FREE but the impact they make can be dramatic.