Today I write to give thanks to the village, you know the one, that it takes to raise a child.
Last night I had the privilege of caring for two of my precious grandchildren while mommy and daddy went on a date. The two and half year old was interested in the concept of dates, so I decided to take him and his almost four month old sister on a date too, I thought it would help the evening pass, and he might not miss his mom and dad so much.
It worked for both of them, she was distracted by the noise and the chatter and the laughter that she did not even notice, most of the time, that she was drinking milk out of a bottle.
He ran and made friends. His best friend of the evening was a seven, I am guessing, year old girl. She had him climbing all the way to the top and sliding down the closed in slide by the end of our time. She also with her father's encouragement, got him out of the play structure when it was time to go home. So my thanks starts with her, encouraging, playing and running with him to check in with me as he needed. And of course a special thank you to her father, we might still be there now if he had not come to my rescue.
Then there was the family with the two girls, the pre teen and the toddler, who loved shoes. They watched my toddler eat his burger and his sister sit in her car seat, while I went to get ketchup for his french fries.
Finally there was the grandma, whose first grand child is in a neonatal unit growing and getting stronger after arriving three months early. She and her grand daughter are on my prayer list now.
She came and volunteered to rock the car seat when it was time for me and the four month old to go home and the two and half year old needed a little extra encouragement.
Then there were the door holders, the offers to help me carry and ..
Thank you to this named village, all of whom are a part of this diverse and wonderful country I call home. Our skin colours and accents were different, I suspect our educational and economic experiences were different and we bonded in our love for children.
This village helped me have a wonderful date with two wonderful little people, and enriched my life by the generosity of spirit I experienced on that date!
I am blessed!
gkn June 2017
Last night I had the privilege of caring for two of my precious grandchildren while mommy and daddy went on a date. The two and half year old was interested in the concept of dates, so I decided to take him and his almost four month old sister on a date too, I thought it would help the evening pass, and he might not miss his mom and dad so much.
It worked for both of them, she was distracted by the noise and the chatter and the laughter that she did not even notice, most of the time, that she was drinking milk out of a bottle.
He ran and made friends. His best friend of the evening was a seven, I am guessing, year old girl. She had him climbing all the way to the top and sliding down the closed in slide by the end of our time. She also with her father's encouragement, got him out of the play structure when it was time to go home. So my thanks starts with her, encouraging, playing and running with him to check in with me as he needed. And of course a special thank you to her father, we might still be there now if he had not come to my rescue.
Then there was the family with the two girls, the pre teen and the toddler, who loved shoes. They watched my toddler eat his burger and his sister sit in her car seat, while I went to get ketchup for his french fries.
Finally there was the grandma, whose first grand child is in a neonatal unit growing and getting stronger after arriving three months early. She and her grand daughter are on my prayer list now.
She came and volunteered to rock the car seat when it was time for me and the four month old to go home and the two and half year old needed a little extra encouragement.
Then there were the door holders, the offers to help me carry and ..
Thank you to this named village, all of whom are a part of this diverse and wonderful country I call home. Our skin colours and accents were different, I suspect our educational and economic experiences were different and we bonded in our love for children.
This village helped me have a wonderful date with two wonderful little people, and enriched my life by the generosity of spirit I experienced on that date!
I am blessed!
gkn June 2017
