On Sunday after church, my husband and I went to our local mom and pop's diner for lunch. We completed our meal; my husband went to the register to pay the bill, and a gentleman came over to our table. He said, "About 35 years ago, you took care of my kids". I said, "which kids?" There were several. "Dan and Rose". This daddy's name is Mark. I remembered right away. There were lots of kids, but only one Dan and one Rose. Dan was 2 1/2 and Rose was 4. Their momma had left them and moved to another town to start another family. Mark was it for them. At the time we were in the process of adopting our niece. We were Uncle Mike and Aunt Sandy until the adoption was final. All the daycare kids picked up on that and we became Uncle Mike and Aunt Sandy to them also. He caught me up on all the Dan and Rose news and I was just thrilled to have had the encounter. Last summer I was in line to buy the best burger sold in town and I heard a deep voice behind me say "you used to take care of me." I turned around and had to look waaaaaay up. This dude was tall. I said, "what is your name?" Ryan V. I got the biggest hug ever. But this one is my favorite. We sold the house we lived in for 23 years. The house where all the kids came for 10 hours a day. We were friends with the young family that bought the house and would see them around town. She said, "We order pizza to be delivered, and the pizza guy said, "I used to come to daycare here and I was really happy." That was Jonathan. And that dear Kerimae, was my side hustle. I needed to help add to the finances. I did not want to put my own children in daycare, so I took in others. When 4 year old Lindsey told all the other kids "you go to the office, and I will stay here and take care of the chilrens" I knew I was doing it right. She was pretending to be me. Lindsey has 3 littles of her own now and they call me Grandma Sandy. Her littles are best mates with my little grand girls. Life is good. A few tears were shed in the writing of this comment.
Oh the tears are real. This is so special and dear to my heart. All those days I wonder if I am doing any good, if any of it is any good (am I alone in all that??)...and then God shows me how good it all is. Thank you, friend ❤️
Really enjoyed this format. I could listen while making lunch. All great advice, thanks for the encouragement. Every time I think I might want to do something extra because life feels more sane, I get pregnant and am brought back to reality lol it has worked to remind me not to take on too much. It seems sometime around your youngest turning two I feel I should try to do more. But I’ve learned two year olds are a full time job in themselves. Add homemaking and homeschooling and I’m not sure why I ever consider doing anything extra during this season lol
Yes, those two year olds! Raising children and running a household are full time jobs in and of themselves if you are a stay at home mom, and not all of your downtime needs to be on money making endeavors; it's ok to REST too.
Hi,
On Sunday after church, my husband and I went to our local mom and pop's diner for lunch. We completed our meal; my husband went to the register to pay the bill, and a gentleman came over to our table. He said, "About 35 years ago, you took care of my kids". I said, "which kids?" There were several. "Dan and Rose". This daddy's name is Mark. I remembered right away. There were lots of kids, but only one Dan and one Rose. Dan was 2 1/2 and Rose was 4. Their momma had left them and moved to another town to start another family. Mark was it for them. At the time we were in the process of adopting our niece. We were Uncle Mike and Aunt Sandy until the adoption was final. All the daycare kids picked up on that and we became Uncle Mike and Aunt Sandy to them also. He caught me up on all the Dan and Rose news and I was just thrilled to have had the encounter. Last summer I was in line to buy the best burger sold in town and I heard a deep voice behind me say "you used to take care of me." I turned around and had to look waaaaaay up. This dude was tall. I said, "what is your name?" Ryan V. I got the biggest hug ever. But this one is my favorite. We sold the house we lived in for 23 years. The house where all the kids came for 10 hours a day. We were friends with the young family that bought the house and would see them around town. She said, "We order pizza to be delivered, and the pizza guy said, "I used to come to daycare here and I was really happy." That was Jonathan. And that dear Kerimae, was my side hustle. I needed to help add to the finances. I did not want to put my own children in daycare, so I took in others. When 4 year old Lindsey told all the other kids "you go to the office, and I will stay here and take care of the chilrens" I knew I was doing it right. She was pretending to be me. Lindsey has 3 littles of her own now and they call me Grandma Sandy. Her littles are best mates with my little grand girls. Life is good. A few tears were shed in the writing of this comment.
Oh the tears are real. This is so special and dear to my heart. All those days I wonder if I am doing any good, if any of it is any good (am I alone in all that??)...and then God shows me how good it all is. Thank you, friend ❤️
Really enjoyed this format. I could listen while making lunch. All great advice, thanks for the encouragement. Every time I think I might want to do something extra because life feels more sane, I get pregnant and am brought back to reality lol it has worked to remind me not to take on too much. It seems sometime around your youngest turning two I feel I should try to do more. But I’ve learned two year olds are a full time job in themselves. Add homemaking and homeschooling and I’m not sure why I ever consider doing anything extra during this season lol
Yes, those two year olds! Raising children and running a household are full time jobs in and of themselves if you are a stay at home mom, and not all of your downtime needs to be on money making endeavors; it's ok to REST too.
Yes that’s a good reminder. Rest is important too. I have a hard time remembering that one