"They Aren't Smiling At Me!"

Yesterday, on our visit to Target stocking up on groceries for the next few weeks, Tate was sitting in the grocery cart (which is a miracle unto itself!) while I was getting everything rung up. I wasn't paying too much attention to what she was doing, because I was busy watching the prices of everything add up... insane... but I was looking back at her every 10-20 seconds to see if she was still there and not doing something she wasn't supposed to be doing. On one of these glances, I see her smiling REALLY big and staring intently at something in the distance. I looked to where she was looking and saw 2 women heading towards her, neither one of them looking at her. I look back at Tate who is just smiling as cute as can be (I wish I had my camera with me then!!!) and as they pass, her smile faded and she looked at me with the saddest face and said, "Mommy, they aren't smiling at me!!!" She was trying to get people to smile back at her, but no one was paying any attention. I watched her do this 3 more times as 3 different sets of people walked by her and again, NONE of them even looked at her nor were smiling. Poor little thing, she was so sad! It made me feel bad for her first of all, just because I am all hormones at this point and anything can make me cry, but second of all... it made me start to think a bit deeper. If you can walk past a cute little kid, who is basically at eye level with them, who is trying her best to get you to smile back and not even notice... what else aren't you noticing going on around you? It was like she was in her own way trying to brighten someone else's day... but no one would take it. This was probably the ONE time thus far in her little life that she has acted PERFECTLY on a grocery outing... so don't think this happens all of the time, but I again, lost my breath as I was watching her, and let the flood of love overwhelm me... It's moments like this that remind me just how absolutely precious she is.