I'm sooo used to having my kids (or other people's kids) with me 24/7 that I often forget how to act when I'm by myself. It's typical to see me blow my nose and then look at it/show it to those around me because that's how every day goes here: I blow my nose and then I have 6+ little faces asking to see my tissues. It's gross, but whatever. Kids are gross. It just looks really odd to see a grown woman by herself looking at her used tissue (a true story). I had another of those moments the other night. For most people, the following story would be a bit embarrassing, but alas, I have no shame after spending so much time with children who don't care what anyone thinks.
One of the many trips to Target with kids in tow. Always an adventure.
We took the kids to a local furniture store to place a special order for new dining room chairs on a Friday night. I'm seasoned in taking my kids everywhere, so I had everything ready to go for ordering when we got there. We were in and out pretty quickly to avoid all meltdowns/bad behaviors.
As we were leaving the store, I went to the bathroom while Hubs took the kids to the minivan and loaded them up. As I was coming out of the bathrooms, I walked past someone in the hallway (to the bathrooms). They were taking up a good amount of space and I instantly worried about my children tripping this individual or running right into them (a common issue with my children, who never watch where they're going). I'm used to pulling one or more of my children out of the way. Instinctively, I started reaching around me and said, "oh, excuse us." I only realized I was by myself and didn't have anyone attached to me when the other person stopped in their tracks and gave me the oddest look. It was then that I realized I was grabbing for a nonexistent little hand and my kids were nowhere around.
Me being me, just laughed and said, "good luck in there," to the other person. I'm sure I just made a good story for that individual. I really hope I'll get my pre-mom sense back (although I've heard that doesn't happen) some day!