18 Parents Who Received a Small Gesture From Others That Made Their Day

Having a child is a roller coaster of good things and moments when sanity reaches its limit. Many times, when patience and resources to calm the child are exhausted, a kind word or help from another person can change your day for the better. Solidarity between parents and well-meaning people cheered up the hearts of the protagonists of this article and gave them the motivation they needed.

At Bright Side, we love to share stories of affection for each other, so we’re bringing you stories where a small gesture changed some parents’ days.

• I was fighting with my threenager, trying to fix her hair before we went into daycare. Another dude came out and said, “Dang, Dad you’re doing a great job on that hair she looks great!” She smiled and let me finish and my heart almost exploded. Some days hearing that positive talk from a random stranger can change your whole day. © dan_craus / Reddit
• I’m by far not a seasoned air traveler! But I’ve flown along with my daughter twice to Florida, at 9 months and 23 months. On the first trip home, I arrived early, but TSA was really slow and I got held up longer, as I had baby formula. I literally had to run to the gate, pushing the stroller, baby on my hip, and just made my flight as they were closing the door! They helped me get my stroller into my gate check bag and we finally boarded. I felt awful for being the late arrival with the baby! Then trying to squeeze down the aisle to row 38! Felt all eyes on me as I tried my best to not bump anyone with my huge diaper bag! When I sat down I realized she had a major diaper fail! I couldn’t wait till takeoff and bathroom access to (completely) change her and clean myself up. I had been seated alone in my row so I quickly changed her on the seat while the plane taxied to the runway (thank goodness for the gallon zip bags)! There was an older man seated in front of me. When we landed after our 3-hour flight, he turned back to say how great she did flying, saying how well-behaved she was! It truly meant so much to me! Of course, I apologized for what happened, but he just waved his hand, like to say no big deal, and said everything was fine! A few kind words really go a long way sometimes!! © MommaKaylaCharlie / Reddit
• Once at the playground, I was chasing my kiddo around and overheard 2 dads having a conversation. As I arrived, one of them goes, “So in the second movie there are all different kinds of music trolls and the rock troll tries to like, take over. It’s pretty good, I liked it better than the first one.” And it just made me so happy to hear 2 dudes discussing Trolls 2 with no irony or shame. Love to see it! © throwawehhhhhhhh1234 / Reddit

• My husband is out of town and I’m trying to prep for my child’s birthday party. Going to the store with my threenager can always be a struggle, but when it’s just me and her and her baby brother... and we are buying things for her birthday... let’s just say I was rushing to get out of there before one or all 3 of us had a meltdown. I was in an aisle, the baby was trying to pull something off the shelf, my daughter was asking for a toy for the thousandth time while touching EVERYTHING, and I was about ready to leave because I didn’t have enough hands for the chaos unfolding in front of me when an older lady came the other way down the aisle. She looked at this scene and I was just hoping she wouldn’t make it worse (I once had someone stalk me through the same store yelling at me because my baby was crying) and she gave me a kind smile and said, “I remember those days. I promise it gets easier. You’ve got this.” That comment was exactly what I needed at that moment. © INFJ_Mommy / Reddit
• I was at “mommy and me” toddler gymnastics with my daughter on Saturday, and she’s 2 — she sometimes does what the coaches want, sometimes just takes off giggling and running for whatever looks the most fun at the moment. This week she decided to be a little chaos agent, which meant I got to pace up and down the tumbling trampoline with her while the other kids went through an obstacle course. She finally settled down and we went to rejoin the class, and another mom was having some trouble with her little one. I said, oh yeah, [daughter] has been doing her own thing allllll class. The mom looked so relieved. “I thought it was just us!” I was like, “Oh my gosh, no, this tiny adorable hellion has been racing around like it’s her job, don’t even think about it.” © SpookyDelta / Reddit
• This happened to me on Monday: dropped my 2-year-old off and he started crying. Another parent dropped their kid off and she started crying. These kids usually LOVVVVEE daycare. We all ran out of daycare together in solidarity. © clturner87 / Reddit
• I was in TJ Maxx and some lady told me I was a good mom completely out of the blue. My kid was almost 3 at the time and he wasn’t acting up or anything, he was just sitting in the cart babbling about the toy car he was getting. It was so surprising and made me feel good about myself. A year later and I still remember it very clearly. © DarlingNib / Reddit

• My kid lost her mind over a plush whale at a local shop one day. She’d never done anything like this before, or since, thankfully. She wanted that whale so bad, and I told her calmly, from the start, that we weren’t buying the whale, and that we have a whale nearly identical at home (we do, and she isn’t even particularly wild about our whale). The only employee in the shop was the cashier behind the counter, and at one point, he told us that the whale wasn’t actually even for sale, it was just decoration. It had a price tag on it, so I’m fairly confident he was just saying that to try to be helpful (maybe ease my conscience for not giving in, maybe help my daughter accept her fate). He was probably in his early twenties, a young single dude, and I was really surprised and grateful for how he reacted to my toddler’s most humiliating public tantrum. © fvkatydid / Reddit
• When I go see a newborn, I always bring dinner. Not just to share but for them to have when I’m already gone. It’s just the little things. © CaptainMilly / Reddit
• A friend of mine adores babies and whenever we get together, she jumps at the chance to offer to hold or play with my toddler or another friend’s baby. She’s taken both on at the swings so us moms could sit and eat something without my toddler begging like a little dog that has been starved all week. I love and appreciate her so much. It’s nothing significant to her, but huge to us. © magicrowantree / Reddit

• I once had a toddler sitting behind me on an airplane. It was just the dad and his daughter and he was mortified when she started acting like a toddler. He leaned over looking horrified as he apologized profusely for her kicking my seat while he kept begging her to stop. I turned around with a huge smile and engaged with her. My very spirited niece was around this little girl’s age and I knew how my sister would age 10 years whenever they flew. I played peek-a-boo with her and asked her silly questions to make her giggle. I offered to keep an eye on her if the dad needed to go to the bathroom. It was a long flight and she slept for probably half of it. I figured the least I could do to alleviate the clearly stressed dad was to show him compassion and understanding by letting him know she was just being a kid and it was okay. © fruitloopsareyummy / Reddit
• Was at the grocery store with my little bug, I tend to park out alone because I’m clumsy and worry about hitting other people’s cars. But for whatever reason, someone parked beside me despite the whole lot being open. I’m trying to get baby into her seat, but she had just discovered she could alligator death roll to try to escape me and was putting this new skill to use in her car seat. I had my foot out behind me awkwardly to hold the door so it wouldn’t hit the car that parked a smidge too close to me, juggling her. Suddenly this voice says, “I have it, momma, go ahead.” I look up to see this elderly man with one hand on my door and the other on his cane, smiling. I got baby buckled and thanked him repeatedly, he just chuckled and said he understood, he was a dad and grandpa too, and shuffled into the store. It was so small but was such a big thing to me. © Siha117 / Reddit
• I was in Target a couple of weeks ago and a mom was playing a little game with her toddler in the cart and came around the corner and saw me and kind of got shy — I gave her a big eye crinkling smile (gotta use the eyes since masks) and a big thumbs up. She relaxed and kept playing. © vtlatria / Reddit

What’s the most special thing someone has done for you as a parent? And what have you done for other parents yourself?