The Best Thing About Working in a Toy Store

So, if you're wondering what the best thing about working at Toys R Us is, that's easy: cute children. I see lots of them. Babies, too. It's always really fun, but I have two short stories to illustrate the way that the Lord recently used two little girls to bless and encourage me--which of course, made them especially endearing. :-)

First, I was walking around the store with a co-worker. I saw a girl browsing in the preschool section, and I said "hello" and smiled. She said, "Oooh, you're pretty." Now, I can honestly say that was a new comment from a child. Who knows--maybe she appreciated my smile. ;-) Since I have been pondering issues of beauty lately (and can occasionally struggle with that issue, as many women do), that was a particularly sweet comment to me. My co-worker and I chuckled a bit. It was just such a kid comment, if you know what I mean. Spontaneous, excited, and uncensored. It was also kind.

Another kindness really warmed my heart yesterday. I was serving as a cashier and an Asian woman and her daughter came to me to be checked out. The woman bought her daughter some orange Tic Tacs. Once I'd finished checking her mom out, she opened the Tic Tacs and then offered me one. I thought it was such a nice gesture of budding generosity that I accepted, and she handed me one. I enjoyed it, partly because it tasted good, and mostly because it was yet another spontaneous act of kindness from a child.

I love kids. They're cool. Hopefully, I'll still feel that way once I start student teaching in a few weeks. ;-)