Loved

Have you ever just sat back and thought about how many people your child interacts with on a daily basis? From adults to other children? Until recently, I never really took the time to appreciate how much help and kindness she (and we) receive. But now that I fully recognize and acknowledge it, I can’t help but count my blessing. Emery will never go without anything. And this makes my heart really happy.

Among these amazing people are my parents and our babysitter. When we needed a roof over our heads, my parents gladly gave up their bed for us. And then they helped us make the guest house livable. Right after I had Emery, my husband wasn’t working, and they helped us by buying extra food, diapers, wipes, bottles, clothes, and formula when the time came. Even now, they are constantly taking Emery out for a night or helping us with diapers, clothes, and food. Our daughter has an expanding collection of clothes, and shoes that surpasses even my own. And their generosity is not just with her. In fact, sometimes I have to tell them that they don’t need to buy us anything because they'll come home with bags of stuff for all of us.

Next is our babysitter. She and her family have become a part of our family. Currently, she only watches Emery three days out of the week, but I still pay her for a whole week. You have no idea how much I had to struggle with her to take my money either. Most of the time I had to be sneaky about this. Slipping an extra $20 in her purse, or gathering Emery’s things, and laying the envelope at the table before bolting. One time I wasn’t fast enough and she chased me down. She always tells me:

“We love her like our own. 

 We love having her here, because she lights up our lives.

 Don’t need any extra money.”

And I’m thinking “Wow, seriously?” I love my daughter but there’s no hiding that she’s a handful. I would even go as far as to say spoiled. She has a bit of a temper, a knack for tantrums, and she’s very demanding. But our babysitter says that she’s not like that with them. This is probably because they give her, her hearts desire. But they all reassure me that they are happy to have her. Even her husband greets her every morning gushing about “his princess”. And Emery loves the attention. Recently they went on vacation, and before they left they took her out to lunch in town. Then they cut their trip short and called me the night they arrived back in town to make sure I would be dropping her off with them the next morning. That right there, is mind blowing.

Then we have the random people we see while out shopping or running errands. There isn’t a single time where someone doesn’t come up to us and let us know how beautiful or “full of light” our daughter is. She gives out hugs, and for the most part she does behave. She says “please” and “thank you”. Some people say that they’ve never seen such manners on someone so young. And I don’t know how many times she’s turned some macho men into peek-a-boo playing softies. Seriously. I may be a bit biased but my kid (when not screaming her lungs out) is kind of awesome.

I appreciate all of this. I appreciate everyone that shows her love, and kindness. I appreciate everyone that has helped us out, given us a chance, and accepted us. Without any of them, I have no idea what we would have done or how things would have played out. But, I’m so thrilled to have so many people in our lives that truly love us. I’m so happy that Emery gets to grow up around all of this because I know that there are children out there that don't, and that's such a sad thing.