So the story goes…

One day in the middle of this summer I see a question posted on Natural Mamas-Rock County Facebook group.

“HELP! I need a sitter for my new born. Recommendations? Please and thank you. I prefer a stay at home mama willing to cloth diaper and keep a schedule.”

I think to myself, “huh, I might be able to help out. And it might be super fun!”

I reply, “Did you find someone? Sending you a PM :)”

In the mean time another mom, Meredith, sees my ambiguous note alluding to potential willingness to watch some children and sends me a private message inquiring for her own two little girls, Harper (2.5) and Willow (10 months).  Within days I’m meeting with this mom and officially become their care giver Monday through Friday 8:00am to 5:30pm.

A few days later I meet with the other mom, the “original mom” so-to-speak, Katie, and am selected to be an irregular, as needed drop off for her daughter Emrie (3 months old).

What I did know going into this is that watching 4 total children under 2.5 years old while still running a photography business full time with a husband on the road about half the time sounded crazy.  But what I also knew was that I felt God nudging me to do it.  In my mind I could not work out how I was going to tackle nap time with 3 unknowns and my own known difficult sleeper, but what I knew about myself and about God was that we would figure it out and that it would be amazing.  In my mind I could not figure out when I was going to find time to manage my photography business and tackle shoots, but what I knew about myself and about God was that we would figure it out.  All I knew was that I felt the peace that passes all understanding wash over me as I accepted these children into my family, the peace that I only feel when I’ve chosen God’s way.

What I didn’t know was that Meredith felt God nudging her to randomly approach me about watching her girls.  We had previously met once in passing at church.  Her caregiver of two years had to move and she was devastated.  Meredith loves her caregivers like family and her caregivers love her babies like family.  That’s hard to find and she knew it!  But it wasn’t until my message popped up onto the FB page feed, that she’d only just joined, that she took the leap and ventured to ask me.

How cool is God?

Now I’ve been in this mommy day care thing for a couple of months and I love it!  I cannot imagine a better fit for my personality, my work life, my family, all these girls, my dogs (Harper loves on them all day), and Maisy.  This life keeps me busy.  I watch 3-4 children under 2 years old for the work week, I take care of grandma on the weekends (which involves sleeping over at her house), all the while maintaining a photography business (this is way more than just taking photos folks), keeping a house with all the cleaning and laundry, and doing all this with a husband who is on the road half the time.  And yet, it’s a perfect fit for me, more perfect than I ever could have imagined because I didn’t just gain some additional income but I gained the perfect play mates for Maisy, some great friends in Meredith and Katie, the busyness that distracts me from focusing on all the little insignificant woes Maisy can bring my way and the heartache that comes with an absent husband, and I get to fully use all the rooms in my house!

I love it when people ask “so you’re watching kids now?”  I love it because I love the story about how it came about and I love to laugh. The story makes me laugh.