other people's children

Its funny what comes up when you spend your days looking after other people's kids. There's different varieties of little people who come into my care. The "pate and merlot" variety come wearing real Huggies diapers, clothes from real children's clothing stores, nice labels and all, backpack carefully packed with age appropriate toys, healthy snacks, extra soothers, emergency phone numbers. Their faces are always clean, their noses only sometimes runny, and never that really thick green, rank stuff.

These kids can sometimes waken the insecurity beast within me. Am I really capable of caring for such a child? What if she stays in her diaper for ten minutes after a pee and develops a slight rash? What if she gets raspberry jam on her sweater and the parents will figure out that I always forget bibs? or worse yet, that she eats raspberry jam at my house?!

Parents of such a child have long lists of wisdom to impart at the door before they leave for their very important jobs: We're working on weaning her off her soother; not too much milk today, she needs to have an appetite for our well balanced, slow food dinner tonight; Please encourage her to say "please" and "thank you".

I feel like I'm twelve again, and being trusted with the neighbor's kids. I want to ask permission to sing silly songs, let the kids go barefoot, eat homemade cookies that contain white sugar. I want to say that a little dirt is good for kids, that licking snot off their upper lip will help boost their immunity, that if we're having lots of fun, nap time may not directly follow lunch time. I want to explain that I'm just a regular person; with good days and bad.

Then there's the mac 'n' cheese variety kid. They come early, yawning in their crumpled jammies. When I dress them, they may have to wear borrowed underwear, their own forgotten at home. They come in sniffling, hungry, grumpy or talkative, in their brother's socks. They drop heavy things on the floor, pee their pants and adamently deny it, they take my jewellery and use it for dress-up.

Dad is in a hurry, grateful to leave the kids in a warm and happy home. He apologizes for being so early, offers to pay for damages, laughs at my shaved head. I tell him not to stress if he needs and extra 15 minutes at the end of the day for errands, don't worry about the floor, the couch, the cat.

Do you want to leave your kid with me? I promise I'll love them, laugh when they say silly kid things, let them play with play dough. I'll teach them how to share, say "no thanks" when they hate the lunch I cooked. I'll show them that its not always their turn, that we all share this planet; I'll teach them respect for others space and privacy.

I promise I will learn too. I will applaud myself for being easy- going, I will live in the moment, I will encourage your child no matter what her character or dress label they wear. We will embrace the fact that we are all different, special, unique, precious. If we are grumpy, we will talk about it. We will dig in the dirt, we will watch the flowers grow.

Will you trust me?