To The Hostess Who Saved My Sanity :: Thank You

To The Hostess Who Saved My Sanity :: Thank You

As parents, most of us have been in the situation of going out to eat dinner with small kids. You really never know what you are going to get. Sometimes it’s easy, and sometimes it’s anything but. There we were, a family of five, attempting to eat dinner at Pizza Domenica when my 2 year old just completely lost it. He wanted to do absolutely everything except sit down and eat his dinner. The mom guilt consumed me as I was unable to pay attention to my other two boys or carry on a conversation with my husband. Then, straight out of the Mary Poppins movie, the most wonderful human comes up to me and asks if she can take him to watch them make pizzas in the back.

This small act of kindness meant so much to me. As tears fill my eyes, she takes my son away. I sat there thinking how lucky we are to have such amazing people still in our community. Parenting is hard. We all get that life throws us challenges and curveballs when we least expect or need them. As mothers, we push through and do what it takes to make sure our families are happy, adjusted and taken care of. 

She didn’t know that I had just started a new career and was stressed out operating at absolute maximum capacity because of it. She didn’t know that I was fighting with my husband five minutes before that. She didn’t know that I’m dealing with mental health issues with one of my kids. All she knew was that she saw another mom struggling and understood what that felt like. My oldest son is eight, my middle son is five, and my youngest son is only two. One would think that I would have a better grasp on eating out in public by now. In the moment, though I simply did not have the mental capacity to deal with a raging toddler who just needed attention. I needed a break, and she selflessly helped. She was not my waitress. She wasn’t working for a tip. She was a genuine human being, doing something from her heart. She saw a need, she walked over and she met it. Mom to mom. Woman to woman.

As I shared on social media, “While eating at one of our favorite restaurants to take the boys, I was obviously visibly stressed out by our son’s inability to sit and eat with us. The most amazing hostess swept him up, took him to the back to watch the kitchen make pizzas and saved the night and a lot of my sanity. Thank you Jasmine for doing something totally selfless that made my night.”

For the few minutes my son watched the kitchen make pizzas,  I watched in awe of this selfless human being.

Jasmine, I hope that you know how much this small gesture meant to me. I cried on the way home. I thought about it later and blasted you positively on social media, and I want Pizza Domenica to know what an asset they have in an employee like you. In fact, I think the entire city of New Orleans should know about you. With all the problems in the world, your small gesture made me look at things in the most positive way I have in a long time, and for that, I thank you.