THE LAST WIC APPOINTMENT I WILL EVER HAVE.
Hallelujah.
I have actually been very grateful for this extra help while BK's been in school--especially the baby food. It was also a humbling experience. During my many appointments, I witnessed people who were in true poverty. It pained my heart to see those little children who were pretty much born not having a chance. It was also humbling to be treated rather poorly by judgmental WIC employees, who perhaps misjudged me as a white girl trying to use the system. While my family has been blessed with a lot in previous years of our togetherness, it was not our state the past couple of years. While I might have an SUV and an awesome diaper bag and an amazing stroller now, they were all purchased before we had children or were gifted by generous friends and relatives. I tried to be polite, even when I could tell I was being misjudged, since I was on the receiving end of quite a bit of free food. But it did make me aware that we should never think we know someone else's situation just by their outward appearance.
I experienced this in another way through WIC as well. While waiting in the waiting room, my children would usually completely lose their minds. I was so grateful for the other mothers there who, although unable to speak English, would proactively rock my crying newborn in his infant carrier, while I ran down the hall to retrieve his runaway toddler-brother. While perhaps, I had misjudged these mothers, based on their outward appearance, they were filled with a helpful compassion that I could only hope to have.
All that aside, I'm just grateful that in a couple of months we will be able to fully pay for our own groceries and start paying back to a tax system who helped us out with grants and free food. Thanks, taxpayers of America! :)
