A Random Act of Kindness that Cheered Us Up

We had something rather nice happen to us yesterday.

And it came after two weeks of rather awful things happening, capped off nicely with my root canal at the emergeny dentist on Sunday afternoon.

Yesterday we had to take H (oldest son) to piano practice across town. He has exams coming up in a few weeks so the extra lesson during the holidays is justified. I had to go into an unfamiliar suburb and I think I drove up what must be the second steepest street in New Zealand! And it was very scary, because I turned up the wrong driveway which also was very steep, and had to turn around at the top to come down, and there was hardly any room to turn. The kids were freaking out. Miss M, who at 11, loves to flaunt her independence by leaving off her seatbelt as long as she can in the car, had that thing on quicker than you can blink. Teddy was almost hyperventilating, and my big boy got out to direct me, so I didn't tip over the edge.

We made it down ok, and found the piano teacher's house without any further dramas, so while he was there, we went to the grocery store to stock up on food. With all four children home during the day at the moment, it is incredible how much food we are going through!

So we filled the trolley up and ambled around the grocery store at a leisurely pace - we had 45 minutes to fill in. Choosing our checkout aisle seemed tricky. They were all busy, and then I spied an empty one - well, almost empty - the lady was paying and about to leave. I raced in there and started unloading.

"Are you collecting the mini play food?" she asked.

I don't normally shop at New World, but Aunty Mary had sent home some of the little New World collectibles for Miss A when I came home from Auckland a few weeks ago. They are so sweet, and perfect for playing make-believe.
"Yes, we are." I replied.
"I'd like you to have mine." she said. "I don't want them."

It was such a small thing, but such a nice thing to do for us. 11 bonus mini-food packages. (You get one package for every $40 you spend in the store).
The children were thrilled.
We thanked her so much, and told her how much pleasure the girls were getting out of playing with the few that they did have.
We raced home and opened them. Here is what we found....

 Three Tim Tams! Do you know, none of my children like Tim Tams. How shocking is that! How is that even possible?

The shampoo bottle and the tux dog biscuits are my favourite in our collection, although I think I'm now going to be on the hunt for the Marmite Jar. We found a special box for the girls to keep their mini-food collection in, andwe are now looking forward to more visits to New World.

You have to give them credit - brilliant advertising campaign!