It’s amazing to me how quickly a mother’s panic can change to drastic action when her child is in danger or hurt. There is just something that rises up with a fierceness that you never knew was within you.
Today, as I loaded groceries into the trunk of my car, with my two year old sitting happily in the front of the cart, I had a moment of panic like never before.
I was aware that there was a young man out gathering up the shopping carts, but he was busy so I didn’t pay much attention to him. That is, until I turned to see him, all within the blink of an eye, say to my daughter, “Let’s get you out of there” and proceed to lift her out of the cart and into his arms.
In that split second, my Mama eyes did not see his store uniform, or the fact that he was a young guy with a baby face, or sadly even what I saw in hindsight, that I think he was mentally challenged.
All I know is that I went from one end of the cart to the other in single bound and snatched my baby from his arms, screaming at him the entire time. Panic rose up, shock at what I was seeing, but then immediate action to save my daughter from any potential harm.
Fierceness I didn’t know I had in me. As I yanked her from his arms and screamed at him to never ever touch someone’s child, and then marched back into the store to confront a manager as well, there was a blind fury that propelled me into action and I never once stopped to think about who I was dealing with.
Later, after she was safe and I had calmed down, the natural fears set in again. Would I have been so brave if it had been a big, burly man, or if someone had snatched her and ran? The fear of seeing myself frozen in place sent shivers down my spine. But, when I thought back on the actual moment that young man had her in his arms, I knew it didn’t matter who the would-be attacker was. In that moment, all I had seen was a stranger taking my child, not the details of what innocent thoughts he “might” be thinking. I jumped immediately to save her, not thinking of myself, or the weakness of my injured shoulder or what I was getting in to. So, I’d like to think that if the situation had been worse, I would have reacted the exact same way. Thankfully, this guy didn’t mean any harm and he was willingly handing her over, but I now know that I would be grabbing her with all my might and physically fending off the attacker if I had to.
I told my son later how the manager needed to be told because even if that young man didn’t understand how his actions appeared to others, he needed to be made aware because the next mother or father might knock him to the ground or punch him in the face to save their child. I told him how, if I had to, I’d dive at somebody’s feet to knock them down if they were running away with my kid. My son remarked that then his sister would have fallen and gotten hurt.
But as I told him, a scraped up face or a broken bone can heal. If a stranger got away with them, my heart never would.
It’s a scary world we live in, and it’s a shame we even have to be exposed to such fears, but thank God He jolted me into action and my baby girl was safe.
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