my thoughts on the way home from Costco today

There are people in the world who are not accustomed to seeing a mom with 3 young children. I think most of those people live in NEW JERSEY. Nearly EVERY TIME I go out in public with my kids, I am sure to get a number of sideways glances, stares, and often, comments from perfect strangers. It's not that my kids are overly loud, rowdy, whiny or obnoxious. There's just THREE of them- and with their small builds, Garrett and Ethan DO look like they could be younger than their respective 4 and 2 years of age. Oh, and evidently I look like I'm about 16 years old too. I think it's funny how much these PERFECT STRANGERS feel like my family planning is their business. As if it's their civic duty to inform me that if I continue at this rate, our family will soon be using up more than our fair share of the earth's oxygen. Some of the comments we've gotten: "Are they ALL yours?" "You've sure got your hands full." "They must keep you busy." "You're done now, right?" "You have THREE?" "You got your girl, now you can stop." and most frequently.... "Oh, bless you, dear." It's not that people are trying to be rude (at least most of them). I think I'm genuinely a sight they've never (or rarely) seen before. Usually these comments don't bother me, and I cheerfully respond with something about how they bring me great joy, it's worth it, they're the light of my life, etc. while advocating strong, happy, healthy FAMILIES. But today, I was just really ANNOYED by it. Strangely enough, the most common place I get these comments is at COSTCO. You'd think that a good amount of the people that shop at Costco are those buying in bulk for their large families. Either they forgot that their kids were also once 4, 2, and 8 months old, or there's just a lot of single, childless people out there eating massive amounts of hot pockets, shredded cheese, and canned pineapple. In my short, 30 minute trip to Costco this afternoon to pick up baby wipes, dried mangos and electric toothbrush replacements, I had two women stare while actually POINTING at me, and received 2 of the comments listed above by other Costco patrons. For crying out loud- I have 3 children. Only 3. We are very happy and we plan to have as many more as the Lord wants to bless us with. . . . On a lighter note...I made apple crisp again tonight. Mmmm.