I didn’t plan on writing another post today but after this morning I couldn’t help it. Every morning, I skim through the notifications on my phone – emails, bbms, twitter, facebook – to be checked and responded to once I’m officially up. Well, this morning as I was going through my emails, one name stuck out and I was utterly shocked. I’d received an email from a young lady (she’s now a pre-teen but still :)) I used to babysit. She’s now old enough to have an email address and she was just letting me know she has one and to email her anytime. I was actually moved to tears. Most of time I went home for the last 3 years I always managed to miss them as they were away on vacation as well. I’d seen them once since I left Barbados. I’m really hoping I get to see her this year when I go home.
I felt sooo special and overwhelmed and aged. I couldn’t believe time had passed like this already. I’d speak to her mom occasionally, keeping tabs on what’s going on with the family. I did babysit for a few years so the friendship is definitely there. I guess I’d felt like this because it’s kind of a testimony of the impact I had on her. She could’ve gotten older and simple remembered me as her old babysitter but didn’t think it was worth reaching out to me ever again. She definitely was a special one to me – she taught me lots of patience! And how important it is to just take your time and explain, be thoughtful, understanding and definitely spend time with kids when they are a certain age.
It was also through this family that I was blessed to have a 7 day stint looking after a child with special needs. One of the most rewarding weeks of my life. I’d gone to a small private primary school in Barbados (elementary school in the US) that had a class with children with Special Needs (another blessing). At that school you learned that everyone is equal and just wants to be accepted among their peers. Once you have an understanding of the person’s disability you know how to interact with them and that makes a huge difference. And learning that at such a young age always stuck with me, and made me more willing and less afraid to babysit this little girl.
I think my babysitting years have taught me a lot to carry through into motherhood and can probably be responsible for my passion when it comes to working with children. No two children are the same, and that is a challenge that fuels me in dealing with them. They are not adults so you have to break everything down and just see their innocence and work with it.
I just felt like this was worth sharing. Hope you enjoyed reading it :).
xx
Just a Dash 