Kindness of strangers: I was so pregnant I couldn’t see my feet when a woman offered to tie my shoelace

<p>As an expectant mother bringing a little person into the world, you want to feel it is mostly filled with good people. In that moment I felt reassured</p><ul><li><p>Read more in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/series/kindness-of-strangers">the kindness of strangers series</a></p></li></ul><p>It was my first pregnancy and I’d been sick for more than seven months with <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/jul/31/dont-call-it-morning-sickness-hyperemesis-gravidarum-extreme-pregnancy">hyperemesis gravidarum</a>. In those late stages, after the HG finally passed, I was exhausted and overwhelmed. It was the dual feeling of excitement and trepidation. Was I ready to have a baby when I’d only just got used to waddling around and the discomfort of pregnancy?</p><p>One day I was at the shops and not feeling great. As I was walking down an aisle, a woman came up behind me. I assumed she was going to ask me to move or make a not-super-friendly comment. Instead, she said: “Do you know that your shoelace is undone?” I didn’t – I couldn’t see my feet! – and thanked her for letting me know.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2026/apr/27/kindness-strangers-pregnant-woman-shoelace">Continue reading...</a>