I have the best babysitter, EVER.
It's just a fact.
Why? You say.
What makes her the best?
Oh. I'll tell you!
She loves my son.
Point blank. Unconditionally, as if he were her own child, loves my son.
Her family loves my son. All of them! Her mother, her sister, her grandmother... They swoon over him and give him hugs and kisses and her male counter-part even has a 'secret hand shake' (the baby fist bump) with my son.
Her daughter love my son. She is about a month younger than my little Turtle-Love (though you wouldn't know it looking at them!). They play all day long and conspire against her together, creating mischief at such a young age! The have lengthy conversations, share hugs and kisses, and food, and love.
Oh - this is not one sided! My whole family loves all of them too! But this is not that entry.
She cares for and about him. Genuinely.
She cloth diapers! Her daughter is in cloth, so of course my son is in cloth with her too!
She doesn't mind handling breast milk. Not that I'm providing it anymore, because I don't have a pump. But when I did, it was never an issue. You wouldn't believe how many people do have an issue with this.
She encourages his growth and development. They play games, sing songs, read books, walk, talk, scream, squeal, play follow the babies, use American Sign Language to assist in communication, and much much MUCH more.
We communicate often. If he bumps his fingers, or isn't feeling well, or for whatever reason throws a tantrum to shame most well versed three year olds - she lets me know.
He does something cute, or funny, or if she knows I'm having a rough day - I get a video of my lovely little =)
She takes dozens of pictures. I miss
nothing.
My son absolutely adores her, and her daughter. Well, and the rest of her family too. But especially her and her daughter!
Starting this summer they will be doing art projects, and field trips, and more, since they (my son and her daughter) are now reaching the super discovery age. They even did a little practice recently - she 'helped' my son make Valentines for my husband and I. =)
She holds him, hugs him, kisses him, and loves and cuddles him as much as he wants. He wants to sleep in her arms? Fine. He wants to nap in her lap? That's okay too. I envision the three of them cuddling at nap time - which doesn't actually happen that often. More often than not Turtle-Love is too excited to nap while at her house, and instead promptly falls asleep while nursing after I get there.
And what prompted this post? I've got a picture for you...
She babywears my kid =)
Love!
In the picture she has my son strapped on her back and her daughter in her stroller, and they are walking trough her neighborhood to a friend's house to play with another baby their age. =)
Side note... our area experienced an earthquake a few months back. Which is out of the ordinary... Anyhow, in the event of an emergency situation the plan is for her to double babywear and get the heck to safety. LOL.
Hey, it's a dang good plan! She has a couple carriers on hand at her house, as I do at mine. (SEE honey...
totally legit reason to have more than one carrier right there!)
She does many many fantastic things, all while struggling threw her own daily pain. She is an amazing women, an amazing mother, an amazing babysitter, and an amazing friend. She is definitely a part of our
village.
Shout out to her blog, btw...
Whispered Words Forever Captured Her button is over there ---> on the edge of my blog.
Actually... She made my button ---^ too. Grab them both =)
Too bad this was taken a couple hours ago, and a little late for the
Wordless Wednesday: Alternative Caregivers on the Natural Parents Network. Oh well, I love this picture all the same - so of course I asked her permission to share it here with all of you!
