Somebody tell me what I am supposed to look like...

Encounter #1~We were at the zoo, my 3 were running around being silly. They kept hugging and kissing each other to the point of annoyance. It's a very popular game in our family. This one little girl was sitting at a table nearby and I heard her tell her mother that she wished she had a brother or sister. The mom was very snappy in her retort telling her child loudly enough for mine to hear her, that she gets her own room and doesn't have to share clothes or toys etc etc. I was about to come back at her, but God made me hesitate and I heard her daughter mumble she'd rather have a sister.

I stopped and looked at the woman and said, "They were from IVF." I don't know what made me say that so randomly, but it was exactly the right thing to say. She started crying and apologizing to me. She said she had just gotten a negative the day before, on her third IVF cycle to give her daughter a sibling and she didn't know what they were going to do next.

I was so thankful I had hesitated at the moment. I was so thankful that I had gone through all I have gone through to have my children, so that I could understand what was happening at that moment. And I am so thankful beyond reason, for my glorious family.

Encounter #2~ I was at Whole Foods tonight getting some produce. At the checkout line, the woman in front of me had three small children. The were tired, cranky, and clearly done. After she leaves, the checkout girl looks at me conspiritorially and starts talking about how 3 children is just too many that it only makes sense for people to only have two otherwise you're outnumbered and they clearly act out from lack of attention. When she was done she looked up at me. I smiled. "I have 5." Her jaw dropped and her face went pale. She followed up with the classic..."But, you don't look like you have 5 kids."